Anecdotes & Incidents Of The Deaf And Dumb Part 3

RAPID BICYCLE TRAVELLING.

Yesterday week a young man named Sydney Cornwall, of Coventry, started at six o'clock in the morning for Salisbury (a distance of 128 miles) on a bicycle. On the morning following his friends received a letter from him, posted at Taunton, stating that he had reached that place and had yet fourteen miles to go that evening; and a subsequent letter on Wednesday morning informed them that he had arrived at his destination at six o'clock on Tuesday evening, having stopped the previous night at a hostelry some miles beyond Taunton. This young man is deaf and dumb, and his enquiries for the right road must have cost him some considerable time. The driving wheel of his machine is only forty inches in diameter.--_Bicycle News._

HEROIC CONDUCT OF A DEAF AND DUMB GIRL.

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On Tuesday last an inquest was held by Mr. Michael Fullam, Coroner, at Aughaward, near Ballinale in this County, on the body of a respectable middle cla.s.s farmer named James Prunty. It appears the deceased, a feeble old man of 76 years of age, went into an out-house occupied by his own bull for the purpose of cleaning it out, and while in the act of doing so, the bull broke its chain and turned on him. By the interposition of providence, his daughter, a deaf mute, happened to come that way, and looked into the bull-house, her attention having been attracted by seeing the door lying open; and there, at the instant her eyes rested on the interior, she saw her aged father tossed high in the air above the bull's head; when he fell on the ground the bull gored him with his horns, pawed him with his feet, and raged with fury. The daring girl--the poor deaf mute--did not hesitate for an instant, but with most surprising presence of mind rushed to the rescue. She caught up the old man's stick which she saw on the floor as she entered, and seizing the bull by a copper ring in his nose, she thrashed him soundly on the head.

The struggle was terrific--it was one of life and death, both for herself and the old man who now lay helpless at her feet. The bull did not tamely submit to his chastis.e.m.e.nt, but directed his a.s.sault on the lone girl; he tore her from her ankle to her armpit, struck her on the breast, and dashed her against the wall: but still she clung with a death grasp to his nose, and belaboured him with the stick, until she finally conquered and forced the infuriated animal to yield to her command. She then threw away the stick, and changing the ring into her right hand, raised the disabled old man from the ground and carried him on her left arm outside the door, forced back the bull, and closed the door in his face. Such heroic conduct as this has seldom been manifested by the bravest of men, but it is almost beyond credence that the deaf mute who was examined before the jury through an interpreter could have performed such an extraordinary feat. Yet so it was, and the jurors one and all were thoroughly satisfied with the clear and intelligible description of the most minute particulars of the occurrence exhibited by this most wonderful girl. It is sad to say that after all her exertions, the poor old man died in an hour after his release from the bull-house. The jury handed to the coroner the following memorandum at the close of the proceedings:--

"We cannot separate without putting on record our entire admiration of the heroic conduct of Bridget Prunty (an orphan and deaf mute), who, at the risk of her life, relieved her aged father, James Prunty, from the furious a.s.sault of his own bull, (from the effects of which he died yesterday), by catching him by a ring in his nose, and while holding him back, carried the old man on her left arm out of the house in which he was attacked: and we urgently recommend her to the notice of those benevolent gentlemen who appreciate and reward such an act of n.o.ble daring for the preservation of human life."

"Given at Aughaward, 22nd Jan., 1878, BARTHOLOMEW QUINN, Foreman."

(For self and fellows), "M. FULLAM, Coroner."

_Longford Journal._

We are glad to say that on hearing of the bravery of this little deaf and dumb girl, Mr. Harman, M.P., at once sent 5, and many other friends also shewed their appreciation of the girl's conduct in a practical way.

The following touching lines were composed by a _Deaf_ friend after seeing the account in the "Longford Journal":--

THE BRAVE DEAF MUTE.

The tale of bravery I tell, Will your attention hold, Though not performed on battle field, Nor by a warrior bold.

An Irish girl, to whom the Lord Nor speech nor hearing gave, Tho' but a poor deaf mute was she, Her heart was stout and brave.

Deaf, dumb, yes, poor and motherless, Friendless and obscure; Only her father left to her, And he was old and poor.

A farmer he, and owned a bull, That in a shed was chained, For it was savage, but one day Its liberty obtained.

The poor old man was unaware The bull had broke its chain, Until the beast upon him turned Ere he the door could gain.

The dumb girl neared the open shed, As she the threshold crossed; Oh! dreadful sight, her father high By savage bull was tossed.

She could not hear if help was nigh, She could not call for aid; So quick to rescue him she ran, Too brave to feel afraid.

One hand she slipped within a ring, That through its nose was placed; And with her father's stick upraised, The angry bull she faced.

Oh! then ensued a struggle, fit To fill her heart with dread; While at her feet her father lay, To all appearance dead.

Long and fierce the battle raged Between the bull and maid; Nor would she yield, tho' by its horns Her side was open laid.

Blow after blow upon its head, With heavy stick she rained, Until the savage beast was cowed, And she the victory gained.

And then the stick away she threw, (But held on as before,) Her father with one arm she raised, And slowly neared the door.

Then back into the shed she forced The bull, and slammed the door, While in her aching, bleeding arms, Her father's form she bore.

But, sad to say, her father dear, Whom thus to save she tried, Had been so injured by the bull, In one short hour he died.

An orphan now, alone and poor, Homeless, and deaf and dumb; Oh, who will help some christian friends, To make for her a home?

If you who read these simple lines, With speech and hearing blest, And have it in your power to aid And comfort the distressed,

Oh! think of this brave-hearted girl, And help her in her need;-- With voice and pen on her behalf For timely help I plead.

A VICTORY.

Peter Sims, a deaf and dumb boy, was walking past a large shop one day in winter, when he saw a beautiful pair of skates in the window. He had often wished for skates that he might skate upon the ice, and when he saw these he desired to have them. He looked; no one was watching; he thought, "I can take these skates easily, and no one will know."

Before he had been sent to school this boy had been a very bad boy; he had often stolen little articles, but now he was learning about G.o.d, and he knew that G.o.d had said "Thou shalt not steal." As he stood looking at the skates this commandment came into his mind, and there was a struggle in his heart. His old bad nature said, "Take the skates;" his conscience answered, "No, for it is wrong to steal." At last he made the signs, "steal, bad, not" (he was seen, though he did not know it), and went on without taking them. He had gained a great victory over the temptation of the devil, and the next time he was so tempted the fight was not so severe, as sin had less power over him.

THE QUEEN AND THE DEAF AND DUMB.

Not far from Osborne House, Isle of Wight, there lives a poor man in a small cottage, who a few years ago had a deaf and dumb daughter, who used to do a great deal of knitting for the Queen. Her Majesty frequently visited this woman, and used to talk to her on her fingers.

The deaf and dumb woman is now dead, and during her illness the Queen visited her and talked to her for her comfort. Her Majesty apologised that she could not now talk so fast as when she was young.

EXAMPLE.

Vauncey, a little deaf and dumb boy, was admitted to the Inst.i.tution, at Derby, and night and morning he would watch with keen interest the other boys kneeling at the bed-side, and spelling on their fingers their prayers. In a few days the little boy learnt the alphabet, and the head master on going upstairs to look round, was surprised to see him kneeling reverently by his bed-side, eyes closed, and spelling on his fingers the alphabet right through. A strange prayer, the reader will think; but not so to our Heavenly Father, who doubtless would accept it as the poor boy's best offering.

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THE CONVERTED MUTE.

During a revival of religion in one of the New England villages, a son of the clergyman returned home for a brief visit. The lad was a deaf mute, and had spent his first term in the Deaf and Dumb Inst.i.tution, just then commencing its history. His parents having no knowledge of the language of signs, and the boy being an imperfect writer, it was almost impossible to interchange with him any but the most familiar ideas. He, therefore, heard nothing of the revival. But before he had been at home many days, he began to manifest signs of anxiety, and at length wrote with much labour upon his slate, "Father, what must I do to be saved?"

His father wrote in reply, "My son, you must repent of sin, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ." "How must I do this?" asked the boy again upon his slate. His father explained to him as well as he could, but the poor untaught boy could not understand. He became more than ever distressed; would leave the house in the morning for some retired place, and would be seen no more until his father went in search of him. One evening, at sunset, he was found upon the top of the hay, under the roof of the barn, on his knees, his hands uplifted and praying to G.o.d in the signs of the mutes. The distress of the parents was so intense, that they sent for one of the teachers of the Asylum, and then for another; but it seemed that the boy could not be guided to the Saviour of sinners. One afternoon the father was on his way to fulfil an engagement in a neighbouring town, and as he drove leisurely over the hills, the poor inquiring and helpless son was continually in his thoughts. In the midst of his supplications his heart became calm, and his long distracted spirit was serene in the one thought that G.o.d was able to do his own work. The speechless boy at length began to tell how he loved his Saviour, and that he first found peace on the very afternoon when the spirit of his father on the mountains was calmed and supported by the thought that what G.o.d had promised he was able to perform.