The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1876-07-13
BLIND TOM AT HIS MEALS.
How the Musical idiot Tears and Devours
His Food.

How the Musical idiot Tears and Devours
His Food.
A reporter at Virginia City expressed
a desire to see Tom at his meals, and
was accordingly taken to his room.
"Sit down here" said the agent,
"and keep perfectly still. Tom detects
the slightest sound, and often puts peo-
pie out of his room under the impress
sion that they mean to injure him."
The reporter seated himself in one
corner of the room, and in few mo-
ments waiter brought in Toms meal
and placed it upon stand. Shortly
afterward Tom was led in from an adj
joining room and seated alongside the
stand. The agent then withdrew, lesv-
ing Tom and the reporter alone.
When the blind musician took his
seat his features could be studied at
leisure. His head seemed to be liter
al copy from the pictures of idiots one
sees in the chronological works. There
was scarcely any forehead, his nose was
large and fiat, tho mouth and jaws
simply brutal. His yellow, sigbtless
eyes rolled continually in their sockets,
ferocious and animal. Immediately on
SedbluR htllStll u0 bSBdu w uTunl Will
his hands upon the table, as if lingering
the keys of 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 beef
steak, dish of asparagus, cup of tea
and some bread and potatoes. Satisfy
ing himself that a grace was warrantable,
he calmly spread his hands over it and
repeated a short grace IN reverential
tone and very slowly. The instant the
grace was said he clutched the beefsteak
in both hands, and, lifting it to his
mouth, tore it in fragments between his
teeth, seeming to swallow the pieces
without mastication. AS soon as the
steak was disposed of he began sweeten.
ing his tea with little cubes of sugar.
He evidently likes his Tea sweet, for he
put xteen ordinary cubes of sugar into
his cup, and then, stirring the mixture,
drank it down with smack of satisfac-
tion. When this was done he uttered
cry of delight, and, turning from the
table, rubbed hi hands together in a
sort of childish glee, and danced about
the room. Going up to the mantelpiece
lie 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 a raid
on the dish of asparagus, eating the
stems entire, the white stringy part as
we'll as the tender extremity.
He next clutched 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 en-
deavoring to catch some stray musical
fancy which was drifting through his
mind. Occasionally he made move
ment with his hands as if he were about
to strike IA chord, but checked himself
and bit hls lips as if impatient. Then
his face would lose its brutal expression,
and, as his eyes turned upwrrd, seemed
inspired. Finally he began beating time
with his foot, smile broke over his
features, and he went through the move
ment of playing passage in a slow
movement. Suddenly he begun to sing,
evidently composing 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 adjoin-
been locked by the agent, for the reason
that piano was in the next room, and
when Tom takes his meals he frequently
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.
Finding that he could not force the door,
he leaned against it in sorrowful atti-
tude, while his eyes moistened with
tears.
At this juncture the reporter made
slight movement, and Toms attention
was attracted Immediately. He ierked
his head quickly and listened. The re-
porter made another slight noise-so
slight as to be almost imperceptible-
and Toms face assumed a horrible
scowl, and he advanced toward the sound,
rubbing his hands together and making
motions such as prize fighters gothrough
with when mans head is in chancery.
Not relishing the idea of personal en-
counter with man of Toms massive
build, the reporter resorted to little
ruse. Throwing the stub OF lead pen
Gil in the air, it fell in remote cornor
of the room, and Tom rushed toward
the sound, but was somewhat disap-
pointed when he grappled a trunk. The
fun now begun. The reporter, by roll
ing up wads of paper and casting them
about the room, had no trouble in
causing the musical prodigy to skip
about in any direction. lie never came
near the reporter, who sat quietly in his
chair directing the prodigy's movements.