Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1867-06-03
Vol, ,XxXIV.5Ti5o,-,.T5i7d'is55.;7 ,-,.5i7'is5.;7
Anecdotes About the Blind-The
Blind IN EosIand-Fheir- Eab-
itsland Fecaliarifies. z A

Murray has Just published in London a.
pleasant volume entitled s.Blind People:
Their Works and Ways; with SketehesSof
the lives of Some Famous Blind Men," The
author, Rev. G. B. Johns, is the chaplain of
the Blind School, st. Georges Fields, Lon
don. He tells some amusing stories and q
gives much valuable inforfhation, q We :
copy aifew passages :. y - - 30. Z
THE BLIND AT PLAY.a ;,aa sQyOa
AS we cross the-open,yar from the mat
shop the BOYS and men are coming out from
dinner, and at once diverge in alt dfIeeL
tions; some three OF four Off to the swings r
some to the range of music rooms above
the workshop, in each of which, is piano H
to be diligently sounded till p. M; some
for stroll roundB the grass plat, and one or =
two to,the club-roOmS but each and every
fone going on his way as calmly and clearly
as If he saw every iReh-ef it-Inapped out
befpreshim; never running against friHndT
and rarely missing the handle of the
door for which he steers. AS We.
thread our way, however 20 through
Ethe noisy, struggling crowd, S es1 our !.
irregu1hr, 1nbhsiness like style Of march Is I
suddenly interrupted. by a Shot across the =
bows ID the shape OF a loud ~ balboa io-1!B !
much as tos Who goes there? and why '
don't you look where you're going pm; Our
best ans wer to this shot is TO stand still
[uHtH most of the cruisers have swept by g
dIfOS sbuCug WtULl 0Il0 IQOTe peep IuCO Tie
rbrushsshop, which. till work begins again
Iata P. NJ. serves as a sort of house OF CALI
weWAl quit this part of our subject Our
Friend Trotter was Just off lin a great hurry
fcrnthat doorway he sseizes the handle,ui
"opens thead door hastily, and shouts one or "
| two 1usty, words awaits for no answer, but
brushes off again elsewhere. Ask him what
Itthis pantomime means, and he will tell you ]
that he was in guest of a certain trio OF
boys who promised to meet him there that,
I he I" looked" into the club-room and found
| that they were not there; at least he thinks
not, as, judging, by the sound of his own
Y foot againstthefO form on which they usually
sit, and of his own voice, the room seemed
empty. 4And empty it really is. III 8 ~ 4
| The weif-knOwn story told by Mr.. Ander-'
son of a blind messenger at Edinburgh en-
tirely corroborates this tact. II had Occa-
slon," ne says, TO send out one of two blind
men with, mattress. gave him the bill
with, 1t, that he might receive payment
But TO my surprise he returned with the ac-
count and the mattress too sI've brought
! back bath, ye see, sir said he.s How so p
| Indeed, sir, didna like t. leave It yonder,9
else I'm sure we twad ne'er see the lsiller--o
| there's nae a stick of furniture within the
door p How do you come to know that?'
i'Oh, sir. twa taps on the floor wi my stick
ksoon tell't me thatPn % And true enough
fwas the guess, for guess it must still be CALI
ed though in both the cases cited it was
shrewd enough to pass for wit. The eye
itself is educated. sit ,sees,n says Carlyle,
'what it brings power to see.'' Thus the
sailor at the masthead descries ship where,
the landsman sees nothing; the E$quimaux
detects white fox amid white snow the
astronomer a star, where others see only an
expanse of misty light. The blind boy ed
ucates his senses of touch and hearing into
a state Of exceeding acuteness, till they al
most begin to atone to him for. that one
which is denied; though, after all, they can
not do. for him what single ray of vision
woaldide by one swift glance. sIGsa long
time before you learns to be blind,n said
shrewd old blind woman. ssaeo7g zial1a9au t.I
/ A BLIND READER ON WATERLOO BRIDGE. 70
II A stout, elderly, good-natured- looking,
man sits In one of the recesses of Waterloo
bridge, and processes to be reading, in a
loud, strong voice, some pages of st. Paul,
Fin Frefeis system. Whether he is reading
it or not is entirely another question. At
all events he has learned a. good many
Il pages by heart most correctly ;and so reads
onsglibly enough IN all weatBersb rain. east
j wind, or snow, fwhen the finger of an un:
| professional blind boy would be utterly
disabled "E make. .pzsays one blind reader
of this class, '.abeut 2s. Cd. q week in the
Streets Whit Monday 1 made only two.
pence halfpenny, though read till was
hoarse for it; and l counted about two
thousand people that passed without giving
II lAiO eS'hhe1N SpRfSrAN',t sI.ET-TaTh cTIT-r
i DIFFERENT CLASSES. ,.
j. *9.* Nor must one iIgenius perform
Ter be omitted, who, when his front teeth
were worn away by the constant friction of
Hkthe mouthpiece of his cIarionet, contriyed
Ito make himself out of one piece of bone
1,new. set, which, by dint OF filing and drill
/ ing a hole through them, he still manages to
\ fix in his mouth, and make do their proper
i work Of mastication. Of such as these
there are probably some hundreds in LON
don dragging out a miserable existence
lin q mixture of want, extravaganza,
Iprivation dand dirt TheH,1 far above
these drearys spectacles, ti7acome the.
blind adults belonging to- the mid
die and upper, classes, among whom are
Il fforty-three clergymen and ministers, sew
j enteen physicians and surgeons, eleven
4 barristers aud solicitors, as well as thirty
two officers in the army and navy; all of
whom have probably become blind after
entering on profession; besides eighty
! rtdeseri bed as teachers, many no doubt driven
.iEby necessity to embrace pedagogy for a
l. living; and six hundred musicians and
: 1Eteachers of music. aEighty-eight old 'ssaltso
4 have after long years of service afoat,
foundsa quiet haven in Greenwich Hospi-
7 tals and about an eqDall number OF rivals
: on shore as Chelsea pensioners. How tar
the clergysi barristersi and physicians are
itstill able to carry on their professional du-
ties we have no data toshelp us to decide;
though we are aware of more than one
clergym in the ,neighborhood OF London
~ still more efficient in the desk pulpit.ao AL
most All pagochiala Ii work, % Of course, is out
J OF the sense of touch in the blind, Mr..
Johns says:
rHlssenses of(tonch aud hearing, are be-
: ing silently and surely educated; as their
,, education progresses they become keener-
y hearing as sharp and W latchtai sentinel,
T7fI oil
orksand detective. TO the seeing, touch
, Is an auxiliary; but to the blind boy it is
! ! the primary sense of all. By 1t he knows
his own clothes, and almost all the proper
Ity that he possesses-bis tools, box, bed, hat,
fiddle,g cupboard. seat in chapel, school,
2 broom and workshop by it he reads his
! lachapter in st. John or in Robinson Crusoe ;
! he plays chess or ridominoes; works. a SUM
= in long division, or writes letter home to
his mother which she can read with her
: eyes. and he with his fingers; By the help
I OF, touch he weayes a rag of scOlored woods
embracing every variety of scroll-work or
of those peculiar flowers and fruits which
grow only on carpet-land; or fringes with
= delicate green and red a door mat for a
!, lady's boudoir; by touch he sees any Gu
J, riosity, such as lamp from the Pyramids,
: or scrap of mineral, which you describe
J : to him, and which, having once handled,
: : he always speaks of as having been seen
. He thinks YOU can read a good deal Of your
" character by touch when you shake hands
: with him; and when he has heard you talk
II for fewsminutes he will make a good
: guess as to your age, temper, ability and
= stature. Sanndersons at times guessed
!. even more than this. He had been sitting
u J. one day and pleasantly chatting with some
= visitors for an hour, when one of them
wished the company good morning, and
:. left the room. What white teeth that lady
y has = said the sarcastic professor. How
s can you possibly tell that?' said a friend