It is in your
power to be of great service to
a helpless class in the community,
a class that more than any other
people needs the benefits of an
education which areis to fit them
for lives of usefulness in this
hard world of ours, and I am
not without hope from my slight
personal acquaintance with your
kindness of heart and gentleness
of disposition that you will grant
the favor which I am going to ask
for the sake of the unfortunate
children in my care.
When the Legislative Assembly
of 1884 voted an annual approp-
riation of $2000.00 for the
education of the deaf mutes in the Territory, no provision was
made, probably from an oversight,
for the establishment of an institute
such as is absolutely necessary for
the best development of the Deaf,
mentally, morally and socially.
The need of such an adjunct to the
school was evident to the Board of
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Regents, of which Mr. George Q. Cannon
was then chancellor and here I
must say that a more generous,
whole-souled body of gentlemen
I have never seen. The Board re-
commended the needs of the
Department to the last Legislature
in 1886 and an increase of approp-
riation together with an under-
standing that the University should
provide quarters for the accom-
modation of our pupils was
the result but unfortunately,
the veto of Gov. Murray destroyed
our only means of support.
In our time of distress, the Board
generously voted to maintain
the Department for deaf mutes
as before, but nothing could be
done officially for the establish-
ment of an institute. In the
meantime, all our old pupils
had returned to school and there
were many others anxious to
eat the crumbs of education if
any could be obtained. As many
of them come from distant parts
of the Territory, you can understand
that it would not have been good
policy to allow them to board among
strangers who would have no interest
Page 3
in them beyond that of boarders
and no attempts would be made to
instruct them in good habits and
thus left to themselves, they would
be too apt to pick up bad ones, such
as smoking, chewing and drinking.
Also, which tender mother or loving
father would send away a darling
child or an an innocent young
daughter among irresponsible
persons without anyone to carefully
look after them and watch over
their minds? It is not necessary
to explain this matter further: you
as a parent and as the father of the
Church can understand and
sympathize with the parents of
such children.
There was but one course left to
us in such circumstances
and with the approval of the
Board, my wife and myself
went to work and kept up an
institute during last year. The
county courts rendered valuable
assistance in paying a pro rata
amount for the support of the
pupils. The results of an instituteion
training have been gratifying in
all respects and for a clear des-
cription of its usefulness, I res-
Page 4
pectfully refer you to the last
Annual Report of President J. K.
Park, than whom none was better
qualified to judge upon such
a subject.
The house which we occupied last
year was a large frame house,
inconvenient in many respects
for the proper regulation of our
household, but it was the best that
we could secure. The house however
proved to be damp and unhealthy
to such an extent that our pupils
suffered from colds and rheum-
atic fevers and our own baby, the
only one we have and the only joy
of our existence came near being
carried away by bronchial pneumonia
in that house and mywife was obliged
to live in one room in the next
brick cottage. After the close of
school, the owner tried to rent
the house to other people but its
reputation for unhealthiness
was such that none would take
it and to-day, it is still tenant-
less. Need I say that responsible
as I am for the health of the un-
fortunate children under my
charge, I cannot and must not
go back to such a dangerous place?
Page 5
Yet, to this necessity am I reduced
for the want of a suitable building
elsewhere. When I think of it, I am
filled with despair. I have looked
through the whole neighborhood
of the University for a house but
there is none that I could get for [lone] or money. The Ellerbeck family
owns a fine place but they would
not rent it to us for less than
one hundred dollars ($100) per
month. Of course, that is out of
the question.
There is but one other place which
we could obtain if you are willing
and that is Mr. Geo. Q. Cannon's
large house opposite the "Amelia
Folsom Plalace" It is unoccupied
except by one small family in the
first story and there is plenty of
room in the upper stories that
could be comfortably filled by
our school. Many good people
have asked us why we did not
try to get permission to occupy
this house as it is useless for
any other purposes and is fast
going to ruin. Let us but have the
right to occupy it and we will take
better care of the property so that
it will not be injured in our hands.
Page 6
The house belongs to the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
and you, as the President, have
the power of disposing of it as you
think necessary, for, so I have
been told, and I hope for the
sake of the others that you will
find it possible to grant the
use of it to the Department for
Deaf Mutes. We paid $20.00 per
month rent for the other house
last year and will be able to
pay a little more for the Cannon
place if you say so. Any conditions
or restrictions you may see fit
to place upon us will be faithfully
carried out. As every day adds to
the perplexities of our situation, will
you be ^so^ kind enough ^as^ to return an
answer at your earliest convenience.
The use of the house is only to be
temporary. As soon as we can get
our appropriation that may be voted
to our school next Winter, we will
probably have an institution built
upon the University grounds for the
accomodation of all the un-
educated deaf mutes in the Territory.
May I hope that this appeal for human-
ity's sake maywill not fail?