The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1881-04-21
Blind Tom.

| wonderful performances of Blind Tom. but
they had not realized what real wonder
he was until they beheld him with their
own eyes and listened with their own ears
to his enrapturing and soul-inspiring melo-
dies. He performed in McCullys Hall to
n densely crowded house on Saturday night.
aud for more than two hours delighted his
audience with both instrumental and vocal
music, interspersed with humorous recitn.
tions anu exhibitions of his remarkable
memory and acuteness of hearing. He
was in charge of Mr.. Betlune son of
his former owner who lived near Colum-
bus, Ga, where Tom was born and raised.
Just now the following extracts from A
biography of Tom will be perused with i'm.
terest, and will give our readers nh idea Of
| his general character and history:
Tom was born blind, and, learning moth.
ing from sight, unaffected in his early in.
fancy so entire want OF intellect as TO in
| uuce the Delief that he was diOtic as well
as blnd. His imbccility and helplessness
secured for him the sympathy and care of
the family In his infancy when he beear
to walk and run about the yard, his anus.
| ing peculiartcs made him q pet His first
ranifestation Of interest in anything was
his fondness for sounds the first indication
| OF capacity, his power of initiating them.
Musical sounds cxcrted n controlling ntlu-
ence over him; but all sounds, from the
SOFT breathings of the flute to the harsh
grati"g OF the corn-shcller, appeared 10
aiioi him exquisite enjoyment
re talked earlier than other children
ana 91s J., ne 4 talked no baby talk. lie uttere!
no meaning to them, but seeming to con,
slider them merely sounds, which he imi-
tated, as he did all others that he heard.
Whatever words were addressed to him.
whether Ill the form Of a question, a COM
| mand, request, or as matter of jnforma
! ton, he simply repeated in the tones in
which they had been uttered and would
/ repeat not only them, but conversations he
Lad heard-sometimes for hours at a time
yet, long after lie was in possession of a
vocabulary, with which, if he had known
| lis use, he might have sustained respcct-
| able conversation upon any ordinary topic
| ne never attempted to express by words an
iuea, feeling or want. His wants he ex-
pressed by whine, which those about him
had to interpret as best they could.
He exhibited his wonderful musical now
ers before lie was two years old. When the
young misses of the family sat OH the steps
OF an evening, and sang, Tom would come
| around and sing with them. One of them
one evening said to her father:
PA, Tom sings beautifully, and he don't
nave to learn any tunes; he knows them
all tor as soon as we begin to sing. he
! sings right along with us"
Very soon she said:
sing" '""t We
:. His voice was then strong, soft and melo-
| dious. Just before he had completed his
second year, he had the whooping-courh.
from the effects of which his voice under
went an entire change: it became and CON
tinued for years exceedingly rough and
| harsh, though it did not affect the taste or
correctness of his singing.
! lie was O little less than four years of aye
When piano was brought to the house.
hln,. Inc ilrst note that was sounded of course,
dn1peg his hrm up ne b wa, permitted to in
over and smelling the keys and was then
| taken out Of the parlor. AS long rs any
one was playing lie was contented TO stay in
| the yard, and dance and cai,er to the music:
put the moment it ceased, having discovered
whence the sounds proceeded, and how
| they were produced, he was anxious to get
| 10 the instrument to continue them. Ono
night the parlor and the piano had been
| lett open, his mother had neglected to fasten
her door, and he had escaped without her
awoke, and, to their astonish,nent, heard
Tom playing one of their pieces. He con
| tlnued to play until the family at the usual
time arose. and gathered around him to
witness and wonder st his performance,
winch. though necessarily very imperfect,
was marvelously strange; Tor, notwith-
standing this was his first known effort at
tune, he played with both hands, and used
the black as well as tbs white keys
| After awhile he was allowed free access 10
the ,iano; and played everything he had
heard. He soon mastered all of that, and
commenced composing for himself He
would sit at the piano for hours, piayinr
over the pieces he had heard, then 70 out
and run and jump about the yard G little
while, come back and play something of his
4 yrTI l. y
J is what the wind said 10 me-" or what the
birds said to me-" or what the trees said
TO me-" or what something else said to him.
| NO doubt what he was playing was cor
nected, IN bis mind, with some sound or
tEmoination ti'nao OF sounds proceeding from
| those things, and not unfrequently the rep
resentation was so good as to render the
similarity clear to others.
1t has been stated that Tom was born
blind; III his infancy and for years the
pupils of his eyes were as white and appa-
! rently as inanimate as those of dead fish.
But nature pointed out TO him O remedy
| which gradually relieved him from total
darkness, and i'll process OF time conferred
upon hlm, to limited extent the blessings
| Of vision.
When he was three or four years of age.
IT was observed that he passed most of his
time with his face upturned to the sun, as
II gazing lntently upon it, occasionally
| passing MS nand back and forth with q
rapid motion before his eyes that was soon
followed by thrusting his fingers into his
eyes with force which appeared to be
almost sufficient to expel the eve balls from
their sockets; from this he proceeded to
| digging into one OF them with sticks until
the blood would run down his face. All.
this must have been pleasant to him, or lie
would not have done it; and there is no
doubt that he is indebted to the stimulus
thus applied to his eyes for the measure of
sight he now enjoys. When five or six
years OF age, small. comparatively clear
speck appeared in one of his ewes. and it
was discovered that within q very small
space he could see any bright object That
eye has continued 20 clear, until he is now
aDle TO see luminous bodies at q distance,
and can distinguish small bodies by bring.
ing them close to his eye. Persons that lie
knows well, he can distinguish at the dis
tance of a few feet, and 1t is hoped that in
process of time his sight will so far i'm
prove as TO relieve him from many Of the
alihcu'tles y to which he is subject. . /.
| Tom has been seem probably by more
people than any one living being. He has
played i'll almost every important city in the
united States and In n great many of the
smaller towns-Paris and most of the prin.
cipal cities of England and Scotland and
everywhere ;ie has astonisiie,i aIiii p,easasi,
those who have heard him. Those who
have observed him most closely, and at
tempted to investigate him most fully, pro.
nounce him "a living miracle" unpar-
alleled, incomprehensiblc, such as has not
been seen before, and probably will never
be seen again.
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