The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1859-06-11
what q Bind Man can Do.

AWN nbNNNENNNN ANNHHNNNfNN kfhNH W. ~.
nefed inttfsninB account lf the remarkHbir
achievements Of blind gsnius nov living in
Z Ludlow
/ "IIe Il young man, twenty four years Of
age, who has been biind ever since be was
two years old, and Who does not remember
| that he ever saw. The circumstances which
attended the loss Of his vision are almost too
horr Die Tor belief, yet 10 have no reason 10
doubt them % they have been related 10 us
I Ills widowed mother married dunkafd,
and his step-htheTr enncelilng Aplle against
/ the child, undertook while intoxicated, "a
pet kl4- syss out Gning further w his dia
bOlical purpose, he uAf about 10 thrust red
hot poker down hil throat, when the flight
ened bot desperate mother inieTiered aud
prevented Il, The child was then thrnwn
down eeller, Where le lay all night, taking .
cold which 90 fer aggravated the succeeding
inflammation Of the eyes that the aclcToilc
coat Of each Was burst Of at this he has
no memory, and a blessed thing Il il for aim,
AZ nine years Of age be lost his mother, and
IN that loss became perfectly iIiendless,
| From that day Ia this he has MALAY taken
care Of himself, and NOV, although cheated
by rnscally agents, and laboring under eve
~ possible disadvantage, he has money a.
iHtefest,
Now let W. see what this man hss done
We ID q mechanic and knows eye) part Of a
steam engine as well ~ II he could see. lie
IL an engineer, and has not only had charge
Of stationary engines but has run as on en-
gineor on tho Mad River railroad IN Ohio,
or course he ran With lookout, and between
this look out and himself he haA HfianFrd
series Of authorizations Of language, 30 that
he could learn from him the position of any
object on the track instantaneontly, lie
vas engineer, let IL be'remembered, Of pas
scngcr train. What is more remarkable
/ than all IL that he has made beautiful little
steam engine with his own hands, 40 small
TrnHr NJ car rHrry rTu wtuiUuf II N iItE p6cHrt
and get up steam at pleasure. This might
well be considered accomplishment enough
! for one blind man, but this 10 but begin
ming.
lie has great genius for Music, aud pos
sosset voice, which, IN many charaeterib-
| tics. il without doubt the most wonderful
voice IN the world.
/ On Tuesday evening Of the present week
he was invited to private house in this city
/ To give an exhibition Of his musical abilities,
and few musical men and women were in.
,ted in 10 hear him, all Of whom will bear
witness 10 their astonishment and delight
! We suppose that all musical people will shrug
their shoulders with incredibly when we tell
them tina, his voice has the compass Of i've
ociaves, yet such is the fact that he demon
straied to this company. or eoursc, the
lowest notes are gutteral, and the highest
| iulsetto, but the falsetto notes are pleasant
and good and the guttcrals tr ue toner, and
as musical az such tones can he. We are
not sufficiently ycrsed in musical terms e.
tell what his lowest note ia, but II il the low
est note in the piano, arranged upon the
usual scale-or triple c, as he calls H. His
chest tones are excellent and although Carl
FoTmea may hpve more power his quality IL
no better, while in his lower notes he goes
down 'out of fsight Of Carl Formes altogether.
We can give no llen OF this voice by any
comparison, for We have never heard voice
with which TO compare IT,
OF course, with such voice as thia, the
owner Is tempted TO try tricks. The most in.
teresting of these was the application of il to
seven purpussn lie began by singing, in q
delicate soprano, tie FIRST linee Of 'On in the
stilly night then, as he proceeded, he slid
into the alto, then into the tenor, then into
the base, and then into the double bhsc,' an
octave below. This finished the tune, when
he rose, and turning his back 20 the audienec
executed some most excellent feats Of ven
fuiidQuism and wound of by Initiating an
old fashioned spinning wheel so perfectly
that the assembly was thrown into roars OF
laughter. lie usually accompanies himself
with u melodeon, TO which he has added n
swell Of his own invention that produces all
the effects Of the swell in the organ. One
Of the most delightful Of his performanc, 5
was a solo on the cornet, he playing il with
one hand, and accompanying himself on the
piano with the other. Upon this instrument
and in this way he played few airs With
great sweetness and taste, and executed some
very difficult variations. The instrument
itself has been the subject OF his improving
hand but in what respects We do nUt know.
Added to all this, he plays the guitar and
and other instruments and is a leader aud
teacher Of bands. lie seemed to take great
deal of interest in explaining his steam en-
gine to the company, and to bo thoroughly
versed in mechanical matters.
This mans name is w. a. earns. He was
born, We think, in one of the western states,
and has lived where be could get chance
He is OF medium hight, thicS set, modest in
demeanor, interesting in conversation, and
has received an education in some asylum,
for the blind, for which he appears unbound
edly grateful. He is now engaged in the in
vention of some means by which the blind
may be enabled to have their regular news.
papers, and if any body can accomplish so be
neYoent q result he will do H."
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