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"A sound wave consists of condensations and refractions under waves," articulated a lad distinctly from the board explanation.

The 8-B class were having a reading drill in "The Blue and the Gray," which they recited in unison, with beautiful accent and rhythm. It was a remarkable piece of reading, considering the fact that the pupils are "deaf-mutes."

When the Board of Education of New York City opened this school two years ago it was looked upon as an experiment. Now it is recognized throughout the United States as an unqualified success. From an enrolment of forty-eight pupils in 1908 with ten classes it now has nearly two hundred pupils and nineteen classes, including shop-work, cooking, painting, drawing, and sewing. The first class to be graduated will be that of 1911. It is the aim of the school to qualify the pupils to enter the trades and professions, and to be self-supporting.

The principal chosen was a woman who had taught the deaf before entering the Public School system. All her associates were as carefully selected from prominent institutions for the deaf. In no other school in New York does one feel such an atmosphere of love and helpfulness. The classes are limited to ten pupils each, so each child has the benefit of individual work. The majority of the pupils come from within two or three, miles of the school, many parents having moved into the neighborhood to give their children the benefit of this day-school instruction in lip-reading. But some come a distance of ten miles or more daily. In many cases mothers bring their children from Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens, and Richmond, calling for them again when school is dismissed.

Statistics of the last year show that there are 12,000 deaf pupils in various schools in the United States alone. That the majority of these are taught by oral methods and read the lips perfectly, proves that they are not "dumb" on account of lack of hearing, but lack of instruction. The child usually designated as "deaf and dumb" has as perfect a vocal organization as the speaking child.