“THE MIRACLE OF A LIFE.”

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2693, 24 December 1909, Page 3 (Supplement)

“THE MIRACLE OF A LIFE.”

HELEN KELLER AND HER BOOK

Instead of pity, shame. That is all one can think when the last page of “The Miracle of a Life” ;s read —the true story of a young life so brave and persevering, and withal so bright and intellectual, that its record (pulls irresistibly at. the lieai}V strings of the reader. If. the writer were a woman who knew, all the mannerisms and expressions of the many great and well-known people of whom she writes, and had seen all the scenery that she describes so exquisitely, still the book would he full of 'charm, but when one remembers that she is blind and deaf, and has been so ever since she was nineteen months old, even the hook, as well as its writer, seems a miracle indeed. Helen Keller is a Bachelor of Arts, and not only has she gained the honor that comes hardly enough to many seeing people, but she took her college course at Ratcliffe with students who could both see, hear, and speak. She was born in 1880, so is still young, and after reading the bright, and, in many cases, humorous record of her life, one can appreciate Mark Twain’ s remark that “the most interesting characters of the nineteenth century are Napoleon and Helen Keller.” The book is brought out now by Messrs Hodder and Stoughton at Is, and contains two interesting essays, one by J. E. Hodder Williams, and the other by Mr Macy, Miss lvellar’ s publisher, who lias since become the husband of Miss Sullivan, the governess to whom Helen Kellar owes all that she to-day is. tSome extracts from the essays give interesting descriptions of the blind girl’s personality. “She is a bright woman,” writes Mr Williams, “full of good humor, good sense, fun, and the enjoyment of life, arid to me her first charm lies in the fact that, in spite of the tribute she lias wrung from the world, in spite of her victory over living death, she is a woman still.” BLIND GIRL’S POWERS.

And again: “Helen Keller, whose ears are stopped, has herself heard, and has made others hear, the voice of God as it echoes through this world . . . whose eyes bolden, has herself seen and made others see the beauty of life, the grandeur of living.” As regards her accomplishments Mr Williams writes: “She lias written two books since her life, and is now planning one about blindness and the blind, part of which consists of the article on blindness which rha is preparing for the ‘Encyclopedia of Education’. She was a member of the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind. . . and has been instrumental in causing the establishment of societies . . . She reoe.refy wrote on some new evidence for the Baconian., authorship of the -works of Shakespeare. For several years she. has been studying the writings of Swedenborg . . . and on several occasions she has addressed large audiences.”

A pitiful reminder of the world -of physical darkness in which Helen Keller lives, i 9 in Mr Macy’s notes about her, when he says:— “The time that flue of Miss Keller’s friends realises "most strongly that she is blind, is when he comes on her suddenly in the dark and hears the rustle of her fingers across the page.” Then we reach the story itself with it s straightforward reminiscences, lively anecdote, ar.d pretty touches of humour. . The author’s style is excellent, and New Zealand readers will be glad to notice that in no way is it stamped American —the blind girl’s governess is an Irishwoman, and tfie literary style of the hook is strictly free from colloquialisms. Her descriptions of her struggles t« teach Belle, her dog comrade, the sign language, and her failure and disappointment, are {pathetic in the extreme, but the narrative changes from <rrave to gay, and she never shows any inclination to dwell on sadness. HER FIRST SWIM.

The enormous difficulties in the way of teaching the world, and its sciences and usages to a girl bereft of the ordinary avenues to the brain, can be appreciated when we read the conlession that Miss •Sullivan had been for many weeks with the little girl before the pupil could be taught that everything has a name. Then without the power of observation it is difficult to gauge the necessity for describing everything in its minutest exactness, and so for instance, it was only after her first dip in the sea that Helen knew that the water was salt. Her description of the bathe ,is so graphic that it is well worth reproduction. " . “No sooner had I been helped into my bathing suit than I rrnrang out upon the warm sand, and without thought of fear- plunged into the cool water. I felt the great billows rock and sink. The buoyant motion of the water filled me with an exquisite quivering joy. Suddenly my ecstasy gave way to terror, for my foot struck against a rock, and next instant there was a, rush of water over my head. I thrust out my hands to grasp some support, I clutched at the water and at the seaweed which the waves tossed in my face/ But all my frantic efforts were in vain. The waves seemed to be playing a game with me and. tossed me from one to another in their wild frolic. It was fearful 1 The good, firm earth, had slipped from my feet, and everything seemed shut out fr-vm til strange, all-enveloping elementlife, air, Avarmth, and love. At last, however, the sea, as if weary or its new toy, threw me back on the shore, and'in another instant I was damped in my teacher’s arms.” HUNGRY FINGER TIPS. x Her love of reading is insatiable, and all is devoured that, comes to _ her “hungry finger as she quaintly puts it, but one of the most interesting chapters in the hook is that in which Miss Keller gives descriptions of some of the greatest writers, thinkers, professors, and actors of the day that she has met and known as good friends. In the world of sport she is very keen and, evidently, quite fearless; she .sails, rows, rides, climb s trees, swings, and is very fond of walking. Of tobogganing she writes: ‘ What ]oy I What exhilarating madness For one wild glad moment we snapped ■ the chain that binds ns to earth, and joining hands with the, winds, we felt ourselves divine!” „ . . The boob is full of gems of description, -of quiet philosophy, and most genuine wit from beginning to end, and one’s only regret is that its charm is not more prolonged, so that we hear more still of the life and thoughts of this—one of the most remarkable characters of modern days. ■: '