THE CHINESE SOLOMON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5394, 1 March 1879, Page 7

THE CHINESE SOLOMON.

\ version of tho real Solomantic story is to }e found in Cnina. As in the Hebrew tale, ;wo woman had each of them an infant, one }f which died by misadventure, the bereaved mother claiming the surviving child. The sfficial before whom, they oame did not suggest so cruel a measure as division of the infant, but simply ordered that it should be handed to a domestic in his yamen, to be brought up for official life. He rightly surmised that the real mother would gladly accept so good a chance for her offspring, while the pretended mother, who only wanted the child in order to dispose of it, would demur. Judgment was accordingly given in favour of the tearful acceptor of the proposition, and the story, which is alleged to be historical, is widely believed.

' TEACHING THE DUMB TO SPEAK. Some say the age of miracles is past;. One might rather say, in view of the railway, telegraph, telephone, printing press, phonograph, and electric light, that the aee of miracles is only beginning. Making the dumb speak used to be miraculous. It is now reduced to a system; schools and colleges have been opened for its practice ; and thousands who have been deemed hopelessly mutes are being delivered from their bondage. X went one day recently to see the class opened by Professor Graham Bell in the Greenock Academy, and now taught by one of his teachers (Mr. Jones) from America. I was the more interested in seeing tho method, because I had met ;vitb deaf mutes, who had been trained under it, a t, wei " e a ble in consequence, and without the use of any manual signs, to understand all I said, and to speak, I cannot say musically, but in a perfectly intelligible style. On reaching the Academy I was directed to Schoolroom No. 12, opening off i one of the galleries upstairs. There I found I Mr. Jones busy with a class of three little girls, deaf mutes. The first thing that struck me was the wonderful spirit witb which the work of the little class was kept up. The sxercues were, as far as possible, arranged so is to interest and delight the children whilo instructing them. The exercise they were it when I entered wa3 connected with po3turea. On th* black board, was written, "Staud up," 11 Raise your hands," "Put lown your hand*," " Walk," "Sit down," These words the children were iaught not only to understand as jvntten, but to understand when spoken, rom watching fche motions of the teacher's ips. This is called lip-reading. They are *Uo taught to articulate the words them■f n? 8# done by Professor Melville Bells system of "visible speech," which ias a beautifully.constructed alphabet of its >wn, based on the various positions of the organs of speech required for articulation, iiach word on the chart is practically a ncture of the successive positions aud movenents of the organs of speech required for he pronunciation of the word. It is a >eautiful and perfectly scientific system ; at he same time so simple that a child can eadily understand it. The deaf mutes I aw had only bt-en three weeks under Mr. ones's tuition, and yet they were learning o articulate by it, and were rapidly coming 0 understand what was said to them from k 0 mere motion of the lips. Deaf mutes s they are bj' nature, they will soon under his trainiog be able to converse with any ne, and miogle on almost equal terms with .ieir fellow-creatures. The great advantage t this system over the system of manual gus is at once appareat. The deaf mute r ho depends on the system of manual signs -the "dumb alphabet," as it is called— in only have correspondence with the very iw who can read and also use these signs ; hereas the deaf-mute taught "visible )eech" needs no special sign, but under* ands what is being said from the ordinary otions of the lips always accompanying jeech. His language is also the same 1 ours, and is therefore intelligible to all. he fact of this class being opened—the only le of the kind, as far as 1 am aware, yet jened in Scotland—will interest many. It )t only brings the best training for deaf utes within the reach of many wbo cannot Ford to send their children out of Scotland, it it makes it possible for those who have ' itherto been compelled to do so to have ieir children at or nearer home, and itter, as well as more cheaply taught, he teacher in the Greenock Academy id, I iderstand, supported by two Greenock ( mtleman who have deaf and dumb children j lemselves, and who at great expense kept lem at a deaf and dumb institution in Qndon. rhey find it almost as cheap now , 1 maintain a teacher in Greenock between iem, besides having the childran under a uch better system, having them at home, j id having them taught writing, sewing, 3., with other children iu the usual classes. hese gentlemen, however, have kindly ade the class for their children a public ass, so that the deaf and dumb children others may, at a moderate fee, have the me advantages as their own. The system self, however, on scientific and other ounds, is exceedingly interesting. It iginated with Professor Melville Bell, ruaerly of Edinburgh, now of Canada, is son, Dr. Graham Bell, the inventor of e telephone, has done a great deal in merica in the way of applying it. It has sen widely adopted in the States ; and in )ston, in tho State Institution, I underand that 2,000 deaf mutes have already icn under it and taught to speak. —Rev, D. 'acrac hi the Lady's Journal.