Wichita daily eagle., 1884-06-28
THE BLIND ATsPLAY.
ID J | /
How Wonderfully the Senses Of
Touch and Hearing
serve Tho.e wheI Have Lost Their
Sight-lBlind Boys at SsTac'' on
thc Playground-ReIief
Measures.
fNew.York aail and Expressl 4


Blind boys at play would astonish any one
not thoroughly habituated TO the scenG
Their movements differ in no way from 9th
ers. Objects in their way are intuitively
avoided, even whe(i fhstis Ble strarge obstf-
cles on their own familiar ground, as was
yesterday The Mall and Express reporter,
standing on the playground Of the handsome
lowered and turretted granite building Of
the New York Institution for the Blind, at
Ninth ayenue and Thirty-fourth street. With
him stood, Mr.. William "A Waite, -Hbsnpes-
intending Il the instAatdn, of whiohtIAhh
Augustus Schell was president, and Of which
the dead philanthropist had been for thirty
years manager. The older students walked
up and down the porch-covered pavefnents,
arm in arm, earnestly conversing and never
touched the writer, although he stood di-
rectly in their way had they gone straight
The younger boys played tag ,ual as rapidly
as boys who see, climbed the porch pillars TO
the third floor and slid down without ever
touching the railings, which they passed at
each story. They ran across tss brick walk,
dodgsd quicklynsht snd kF = if they were
looking into each Others eyes and tufnbled
over the four-foot balustrade into the COW
cred playground, without slip, or breaking
their heads against the posts, which were
quite near enoughs together, to make them
dangerous. bt !
THEIR ACUTE PERCEPTION.
Allow do they do this" asked the reporter.
"They are, in the first place, on home
ground" said Superintendent Waite, "and
know every brick, almost 10 well ns il they
could see. When they come TO a corner they
feel the touch Of the least bit OF wind, and
can tell when the Direction of, tho wind
changes, it begins to strike them. They
almost unconsciously follow such a guide.
When one approaches an object he receives
warning from the increased pressure of the
air between him and the object, slight as the
change is, and delicate as the sense of touch
must be to detcc: it. Children who have been
blind from infancy are the most rapid and
graceful in their movements, but they consti.
tute only about . yer cent OF the blind.
They are of course more cheerful It'd IN sthose
who have been nbislio see, and havs lCkt the
sense Of sight, / ~ n
"Some of these boys apparently seer
"Tes, "A great many of them see TO n Ger.
tain extent, can tell daylight from darkness,
can distinguish an object, lat can not tell
what it is; some can even go that thing Is
book, but they can see nothing in it. They
| are the most troublesome class of scholars we
have They know nothing that is of any use or
value to them, hut they know too much to
be ,ractable, and have little Of the ambition
TO learn shown by the absolutely helpless,
who will hail any and every chance to CLEAN
information"
There are 235 scholars in the asylum, which
is as free as a public school, and toward
whose support nearly s50,00O annually is APP
| pTopriatet. The private contributions. since
| its establ shment, have, however, reached
| s2lO, 900, and the expenses Of from s70,0OOtC
| $S0, 900 per annum are completely covered
| To feed and clothe aud warm these littl,
folks for last sear, only $22, $40 was required
a sum less than the necessary salaries paid tt
teachers and other employees. One death il
the year, ard that from disease contracted
| outside. shows the healthy condition uf th'
| institution.