DEAF CLUB AT DINNER.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXIV, Issue 11338, 30 April 1912, Page 5

DEAF CLUB AT DINNER.

In strange silence, seldom broken except by the mild clatter of knives and forks, a party of over a hundred men and women dined at. the Oonnaugnt Rooms, London, recently. They were the members of the National .ueaf Ulnb and their friends. it was a feast of silence. Toasts were proposed and responded to silently, though eloquently, m tlic finger-sign and lip-movement language of the deaf and dumb. Conversation, which never flagged, was carried on in the same way. Every subject of topical interest was discussed in unspoken words. Now plays, new books, the coal crisis, Parliamentary and sporting news were debated with eager interest. Jokes were passed with exhilarating frequency, amusing stories provoked smiles and {gestures of delight. A happier and more contented party never assembled anywhere. The very silence itself seemed full of eloquence and animation. A happy little speech was made in finger language by Mr A. J. Wilson, the president of the club, who has been deaf since he was twelve. For the benefit of those not conversant with this method, his speech was interpreted in the oral system by the club's chairman, Mr M. S. Fry- Amid applause from the company, Mr Wilson conveyed to them his pleasure that women had been invited to the dinner, and the club has decided to form a wonion's section. The National Deaf Club, which was formed six years ago, is Jconiined entirely to deaf persons, oven the managing officials being deaf.