The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1884-07-16
THE sEMI-wEEKIY MINER. BUTTE, MONTANA, JULY 16. 1884:


- IAsse TEN uov L. Dom -
Ears 6E1see - E1~
Many times ~ hsye 1een solic1bed By
numerous friends and indivi1uab TO
tell how It Is that 10 manage tos6nd
our way about town 20 readily without
assistance, and mary erroneous Meas
are entertained Of u by most people,
ideas which do injustice TO the blind -
Q class. We cheerfully comply, and 70
the best of our ability, sud IN accord
snce with our own experiences. give the
desired information. First, hb mis-
take to suppose that We are ever gov
erned BY inst net, as this gift belongs
only to the brute creation. The human
family is endowed with the power Of
reason, and do not need it, nor It
be acquired by the loss Of sight or any
other faculty. We know OF no student
or author or mental philosophy bold
enough to assert that instinct ever gov
erned q reasonable being under any CIR
cumstances, and our experience md q
experience of others similarly afflicted
bears us out in the statement. Then
what is it that enables Us to leave our
home and come down town alone. . dis
tance of several blocks, and find most
anv house or store at pleasure. Re
member that man is q reasonable crea-
ture, and that q protracted application
of reason will sometimes work wonders
over with persons who can see. 1t Ii
the keenest application of a and
the constant use of judgment, rendered
possible only by the strictest attention
to what we hear and feel, together With
the memory trained to retain the
minutest things with the utmost readi-
ness. This can only be acquired by tho
most patient training. and . strong de-
Termination to make the best. Of . bad
and inevitable situation in spite Of the
many bumps and mishaps which attend
the beginning. Thus, in leaving our
door we note the lay Of the land, the
direction of the wind if there be any,
which, if not blowing q gale, will en-
able US to keep the general direction.
By careful practice We are able to feel
the peculiar condition of the atmos-
phere and note the difference in the
sound of a footstep on the earth in the
vicinity of a building or any large body,
is quite noticeable. With q cane
along the edge of the sidewalk We find
every notch, projection or irregularity,
which the memory must retain. In
walking along the street we can detect
. different sound or feeling in tho at
in front of every place Of
business. This difference is probably
due to the fact that no two stores are
built alike, and do not contain same
class of goods. Hence by TO-. ing .
q mental picture of the city, anu lax
ing . mental calculation of the distance,
We are enabled. in some measure, to
the difficulties that beset us,
and with but a small mistake now and
then, manage to find u objective
with comparative ease. There ara
many people. however, who seem to en-
doubt about our editorial work,
and noticeably among our exchanges.
In this. however. we do just as any
other editor, get u news by all tho
devious means known to journalism,
and write with our WI hand what can.
not be clipped. Reading exchanges is
the only part OF editorial work thst
We cannot do, but as the very best little
woman on earth does that for us (but
don't mention it to her, please, it is
done just as we'll.
Many things occur, which, while
amusing to us, are a matter of wonder
to others. One year ago, while riding
the Northwestern road between
Cedar Rapids and Cliston, when near
ing a small station the whistle sounded,
and the peculiar reverberatins, echoing
sound told us as plainly as though we
had seen it, that we were passing .
large body of water, and when We in
how large it was, those with
whom we were conversing wonderingly
"How in the world do you
know there is a body Of water there
Cherokee (Iowa) Enterprise.