Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1876-10-06
Blind Tom mt his Meals.

Tom at his meals, and was accordingly Ia
ken to his room.
"Sit down here" said the agent, "and
keep perfectly still. Tom detects the
slightest sound, and often puts people out
of his room under the impression that they
mean to injure him.
The reporter seated himself in one cor
waiter brought in Toms meal and placed
it upon stand. Shortly afterwards Tom
was led in from an adjoining room and
seated along side the stand. The agent
then withdrew, leaving Tom and the re-
porter alone.
When the blind musician took his seat
his features could be studied at leisure
His head seemed to be a literal copy from
the pictures of idiots one sees in the phre-
biological works. There was scarcely any
forehead; his nose was large and fiat; the
mouth and jaws simply brutal. His yellow
sightless eyes rolled continually in their
sockets, and the whole aspect Of his face
was ferocious and animal. Immediately
on seating himself he began to drum with
his hands upon the table as if lingering the
keys of a piano, at the same time humming
an air in low tone. Next he ran the tips
of his fingers over the stand, and touched
in succession a beef steak, a dish of aspar-
agus, a cup Of tea, and some bread and po-
tatoes. Satisfying himself that grace
was warrantable, he calmly spread his
hands over it and repeated short grace in
a reverential tone and very slowly.
The instant the grace was said, he
clutched his beefsteak in both hands, and
lifting it to his mouth tore it to fragments
between his teeth, seeming to swallow the
pieces without mastication. AS soon as
the steak was disposed of, he began to
sweeten his tea with little cubes of sugar.
He evidently likes his tea sweet, for he
put sixteen ordinary cubes of sugar into
his cup, and then, stirring the mixture
drank it down with smack of satisfaction.
When this was done he uttered a cry of
delight, and, turning from the table, rub
bed his hands together in a sort of child
ish glee, and danced about the room. Go
ing up to the mantle-piece, he went
through the motions of playing, taking no
notice whatever of the articles which he
knocked off. Suddenly he rushed back to
the table and made raid on the dish of
asparagus, eating the stems entire, the
white stringy part as we'll as the tender ex-
tremity.
MUSICAL ECSTACY.
He next clutched a large potato in his
hand and placed it between his teeth; but
suddenly changed his mind, and, casting
it down, lifted his eyes toward the ceiling
and again placed his hands in position to
play. He held his head motionless for
some minutes, as if endeaYoring to catch
some stray musical fancy which was drift
ing through his mind. Occasionally he
made a movement with hands as if he was
about to strike chord, but checked him
self, and bit his lip as if impatient. Then
his face would lose it's brutal expression,
and, his eyes turned upward, seemed in
spired. Finally he began beating time
with his foot, as a smile broke over his |
features, and he went through the motions
of playing passage in slow movement. |
Suddenly he began to sing, evidently COM
posing as he went along, and the melody
was full of strange pathos; then starting
up from the table, he rushed up to the
door of the adjoining room and tried to
open it. 1t had been locked by the agent,
for the reason that piano was in the next |
room, and when Tom takes his meals he
refuses to eat unless the piano |
is beyond his reach. Finding it locked, he |
threw himself against it and tried to force |
it open, but it resisted all his efforts. Find
ing that he could not force the door open,
he leaned against it with sorrowful at
titude, while his eyes moistened with |
tears.
At this juncture the reporter made a I
slight movement, and Tom S attention was
attracted Immediately. He jerked his head |
quickly and listened. The reporter made |
another slight noise-so slight as to be al !
most imperceptible-a TOMS face as
sumed horrible scowl, and he advanced |
toward the sound, rubbing his hands to-
gether and making such motions as prize |
fighters 60 through when mans head is
in chancery. Not relishing the idea of
personal encounter with man of Toms |
massive build, the reporter resorted to a !
little ruse. Throwing the stub of lead |
pencil in the air, it fell in an remote cor
ner of the room, and Tom rushed toward |
the sound but was somewhat disappointed |
when he grappled trunk. The fun now
began. The reporter, by rolling up wads
of paper and casting them about the ROOM |
had no trouble in causing the musical |
prodigy to skip about in any direction. He
never came near the reporter, who sat qui-
city in his chair directing the prodigy's
movements Virginia (Nev.) Chronicle.
A PHYSICIANS PRAYER.-The follow
ing prayer was found among the papers of
the late DR.. Couch, of Petersburg, Va,
and is published in the ''Parish Visitor"
DR.. Couch was in the habit of using it
every day:
go Thou great Bestower of health and
comfort! grant Thy blessing upon the pro-
fessional duties in which this day may
engage. Give me judgment to discover
disease, and skill to treat it; and crown
with Thy favor the means that may be de-
vised for recovery; for with Thine assis-
lance the humblest instrument may sue