Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 July 1892 — How Mutes Make Love. [ARTICLE]

How Mutes Make Love.

A gentleman who enjoys a wide acquaintan e among the deaf of Philadelphia told a Record reporter that the courtship of a pair of mutes was one of the most singular things on record. “J know a young man who is now deep in the toils of a fair and speechless girl,” he said, “and he lias taken me into his confidence. Hte is perfectly happy in his infirmity, for from conversations ho has hold with ordinary lovers he has come to tho conclusion that silence is, after all, the best form for lovers. During tho progress of his affair de coeur he experienced but one' difficulty, und that in a short time lie surmounted. Te»e thorn that lay in his bed of roses was a gas jet, which, as he, of course, conversed with his adored one in the sign language, it was always necessary to keep a blaze—a woefully embarrassing thing for lovers. Finally they discovered that, like Laura Bridgman, they could utilize the sense of touch in deciphering thejr sign Janguagc. By holding one another’s hands they found that they could carry on a conversation with tolerable facility, and in about a week were adepts. Thus deaf, fiurnb and practically blind, they enjoyed all the pleasure of love. They have spread their discovery among their friends, and I believe that the idea has taken fast hold upon deaf lovers, and has become quite popular.”