Deaf town… as imagined in 1903

From the British Deaf Times, 1903. A mental map of an ideal town for Deaf people… This features in a fictional serialisation, entitled ‘The Adventures of Joseph C. Waddle. Deaf-Mute Inventor’. The explanation for the map is given in the second picture… the text is written in ‘Deaf English’.

Image shows a cartwheel with the deaf ‘institute’ in the middle and houses all around, situated in their own individual gardens. On the outside of the wheel, are a ‘home for aged and infirm deaf tramps’, a farm house, pleasure grounds, a printing works, and an asylum for ‘worn-out missionaries’. 

Text reads: “See, build houses all round like this… Garden back each house, build institute in midd. All deaf-dumb see institute from back of house; sometimes on wet day missioner get on roof, preach; all deaf-dumb see sermon through window, not wet feet get. Missioner long rod-fish have, hold up bag to windows, collection make.”