APPENDIX E.

Retorts of the Deaf and Dumb Institution at Fredericton, and of the Blind Asylum, Halifax.

Fredericton Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb.

SIR In accordance with your request, I beg to forward a brief abstract from the Twelfth Annual Report of the Fredericton Institution for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb.

It is a pleasure to be able to report that the educational work of the Institution during the past year has been of a satisfactory nature. The progress made by the (97)

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pupils in their studies has been good, and has been a reward for the painstaking efforts of their teachers. The health of the whole establishment has left nothing to be desired, not a single case of sickness having occurred during the year. Such immunity from disease and freedom from the numerous "ills that flesh is heir to" is a cause for deep thankfulness, and we freely render to the Giver of every good our hearty thanks for the exceptionally good health of the children committed to our charge. our charge. The regard in which the institution is held, its ever increasing circle of friends, their hearty wishes for its success, and the financial aid which has been so freely extended from year to year, are matters for congratulation which, while increasing the zest for the work on the part of the officers, have added considerably to the general prosperity of the Institute.

ATTENDANCE.

The total attendance for the year has been thirty-two, viz., eighteen boys and fourteen girls, representing the following counties:

Two boys, Melborne D'Orsay, of Memramcook, and Stephen Steeves, of Petitcodiac, and one girl, Eleanor Logan, of St. John, left at the close of the school session in July last.

One boy, Earle McLeod, of Baie Verte, was admitted for a short time, and every means tried to awaken his faculties, but it was found impossible to do anything with him, as his mind was too weak to receive impressions.

Four new boys, Henry Robinson, of Hopewell; Edward Allen, of Cape Tormentine; Edward Trenholm, of Port Elgin; Alphonsus Haché, of Bathurst, and one new girl, Edna Isabel McKenzie, have been admitted.

CHANGES.

The services of Mr. S. Sheldon Pride, of the Normal School, has been secured as collector and assistant in the general work of the Institution. Mr. Pride comes to us warmly recommended, and will no doubt prove an efficient and valuable officer.

Miss Annie Crozier, of Welsford, Queens County, has been appointed as Supervisor of the girls. Miss Crozier, being an educated deaf mute is familiar with the sign language and methods of teaching, and has already endeared herself to the pupils in her charge. She entered on her duties in October last.

THE BARN DESTROYED.

The large barn of the Institution, which was erected at a cost of upwards of $700, was destroyed by fire in September last. It contained the greater portion of the season's crop of hay, which had been placed there for the winter's use. Through the kind assistance of Mr. John Morrison and other neighbors the fire was prevented from spreading to the woodshed, carriage house and other buildings but a few yards away. The barn with its contents was a total loss.

Having now no place for the stock, and winter rapidly coming on, it became necessary to proceed at once with the erection of another barn. The contract was given to Mr. Asa Nason, of New Maryland, who hewed the frame upon the place and erected a good, substantial barn upon a site to the right of the main building and farther away than the one destroyed. Mr. Nason used every effort to have it completed before the cold weather came, and in the short space of three weeks it was ready for occupation.

ARTICULATION AND LIP READING.

It having been our desire to give more attention to the subject of Articulation than we have hitherto been able to do, my eldest daughter, Miss Woodbridge, consented to take a special course of training, that her services might be made available for this purpose.

The Clarke Institution at Northampton, Massachusetts, holding the enviable position of being the best school on this continent in this special department, arrangements were made with Miss Yale, the Superintendent, for the reception of Miss Woodbridge for a twelve months' course of training in this subject. On her return all the pupils of the Institution will be placed under her care, a few at a time, and those who show any aptitude for speech and are likely to derive benefit from this method of teaching will be formed into a class by themselves.

We feel that it is our bounden duty to do everything that lies in our power for these children in the way of teaching, to fit them for and restore them as far as possible to society and enable them by all the means available to make their way in life.

INDUSTRIAL TRAINING.

In our reports from time to time we have referred to the advantage which our pupils would derive from technical instruction in some of the trades that would be most useful to the deaf, and which would be likely to be followed up by them after they leave school.

It was suggested that a workshop be erected for this purpose, and that the services of skilled artizans from the city be employed to give the requisite training, school hours being so arranged as to meet this extra call upon our time.

To carry out this idea in the way contemplated funds beyond the usual receipts of the Institution were needed, and as none have become available the suggestion has been deferred to a more fitting opportunity. It is hoped, however, that in the near future means will be placed at our disposal for this and other improvements which have been under consideration for some time, but have not been proceeded with on account of the lack of funds.

Sincere acknowledgments are rendered to all who have aided us in the past, and we look forward to the future of this Institution with confidence, trusting that with God's blessing resting upon it means will be forthcoming for all needed improvements and extensions, and such results follow as will be for the best interests of those for whom we work, viz., the silent children of this Province.

ALBERT F. WOODBRIDGE,

Superintendent.

Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Board of Managers of the School for the Blind.

J. R. INCH, Esq., LL. D.,

Chief Superintendent of Education.

SIR: The Board of Managers have much pleasure in submitting for the information of the members of the Corporation, the Governments and Legislatures interested, and the friends of the blind, the Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the School; and in so doing, they desire to acknowledge, with heartfelt gratitude, their thankfulness to a kind Providence for the manifold blessings which have marked the year now drawing to its close.

While the work of educating the blind is indeed a grand one, and its results very satisfactory, the difficulties to overcome in its accomplishment are by no means small, and your Board, while willing to assume these responsibilities, desire to acknowledgetheir indebtedness to the ever increasing number of the friends of the school.

Under the legislation respecting the education of the blind enacted in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the blind are admitted to the school free of all charge. Such legislation is an inestimable boon to those deprived of sight, and is a credit to the legislators of these provinces; and whatever the future may have in store for humanity in the nature of social reform, nothing will more distinctly mark the advancement of the race than the enactment of those laws which have placed within reach of the blind the blessings of a free education.

While the Province of Newfoundland has as yet adopted no special Act with respect to the education of the blind, the Government and Legislature have provided by annual grants for their education and special training, and year by year, as the Newfoundland graduates leave the school fitted to earn their own livelihoods, the public in the sister colony become more and more satisfied with the provision made by the Government for those who cannot take advantage of the general school system.

The Province of Prince Edward Island has now four pupils in the school. Heretofore it has made annual provision for defraying the expense of but one pupil, but we trust that the Government and Legislature will see to it that in the matter of the free education of the blind they are prepared to stand side by side with the sister provinces by proportionately increasing the annual grant to the same amount as that provided for in the other Provinces.

As will be seen by the Superintendent's report, the several departments of the school are in a most satisfactory state of efficiency, but while this is true your Board realizes that it would not be discharging its full duty to those under its care were it not to recognize the difficulties experienced by both teachers and pupils in securing the best results. Were it not for the co-operative spirit which characterizes the whole school the best results would fall far short of those now attained; but these results, satisfactory though they may be in a great measure, fall below the standard towards which we are reaching out. The majority of our pupils come to us between the ages of ten and fifteen years. Many of them owing to the misguided kindness of their parents