v 278 FAMOUS LIVING AMERICANS beautiful English ivy which covered the house, the trees, and the fences. Climbing roses hung in long festoons from the porch, and in the lovely garden grew lilies and roses, jessa- mine and trailing clematis. The baby Helen was a strong, assertive child, quick, imita- tive, and precocious in learning to speak. When nineteen months old, in February, 1882, she was taken most seriously ill with acute congestion of the stomach and brain. When the fever left her and parents and physicians were rejoicing in the hope of her recovery, it was discovered that the terrible illness had blotted out the memory of her past and had left her totally deaf and blind. Pitiful beyond words is the thought of the little child in her world of silence and darkness, trying to make known her wants. Her parents were of course overwhelmed with sor- row and anxiety. Every day brought new outbursts of pas- sionate rebellion from the little girl, struggling against the terrible bonds of silence and darkness. By the time she was six years of age, it was evident that something must be done, no matter how vain results seemed. Dr. Chisholm, of Balti- more, had been successful in some apparently hopeless cases of blindness, and to him Mr. Keller took his little daughter. The interest and kindness of everyone to her during this trip are typical of the eagerness with which all who have been associated with her, then and later, have striven to bring to her something of happiness. Parents, relatives, and friends, chance acquaintances, and the conductor, all contributed to make the journey a joyful one. But alas! Dr. Chisholm could give no hope — the little girl was totally, hopelessly blind. From Baltimore Mr. Keller took his daughter to Washington to consult with Dr. Alexander Graham Bell. The great elec- trician held her on his knee, amused her and understood her signs readily, but none of his inventions could bring to her light or sound. On his advice, however, Mr. Anagnos, director of the Perkins Institution in Boston, was asked to recommend a teacher, the result of this request being the arrival in March, 1887, at Tuscumbia, of Miss Anne Sullivan. So important a factor in the development of Helen Keller
