The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-07-04
HANDS USED FOR EYES.
A Farm Run by the Sense or 1onch-Re-
markable Intelligence o. Blind Man.

New Somerset co. Letter in Philadelphia Times
man with bandage over his eyes and a
stout cane in his hand walked briskly down an
alley of this little village. He walked with the
strong. confident steps of one who knows where
he is and where he is going. At his heels fol-
lowed a little black and tan dog, which, accord
ing to all conventional ideas of blind men, should
have been In the front, leading his master by
string. The man crossed the street few steps
into the alley on the opposite side when he hest
tated and felt about with his stick to ascertain
the lay of the ground He then retraced
his steps to the street, skillfully stepping
over small pile of boards and then down the
sidewalk to small gate, which he opened with
out hesitancy and entered. Zap! yap." said the
little black and tan, finding himself shut out.
why, SAM didn't you get in! said his master,
and again opened the gate. The man was Ben
son Taylor well known in this locality as the
blind farmer. and the exploits of the blind
flower girl of '"The Last Days of Pompeii' were
not more remarkable than some things which
are to this farmer every day occurrences His
farm Is between two and three miles from the
village, and he thinks nothing of starting out,
with no guide but his cane and no companion but
his dog, to come to the store for his groceries
OF 60 to any of the neighbors on an
errand. He manages the farm himself, and
While there are number of things which he
cannot do. such as blowing and seeding, yet
there so many things about the farm which
he can and does do, that he is fairly entitled to
the name of farmer. He has cooked for himself
for years, baking bread and pies with apparent
ease and even allows himself occasionally the
luxury of a sponge cake. His kitchen garden is
kept very model of neatness and cleanliness,
all the planting and tending being done by him
self He miks and churns with the ease of
dairymaid. The almost universal correctness of
his judgment OF stock and the skill he shows in
raising them are indeed remarkable. He is
gifted with wonderful memory, seldom forget
ting anything he cares to remember, and is
never so happy as when some friend reads to
him. He has decided taste for the sciences
being especially interested in geology and
botany.
Not little interested in the man who has
learned so we'll to do without eyes, the writer
called upon him, and found him past middle age
broad shouldered, dark hair and beard, and with
intelligence and range of general information
much IN advance of the average farmer How
is it that you travel over the hills and hOl-
lows of this rough country the way you dof' was
asked. 80, learned the lay of the country
when was boy and as | didn't go entirely
blind until l was about fifteen, had mapped
out In my mind the position of every gate, fence
and road almost in the country l never was
lost but once, and that one day when | had
been out with neighbor collecting some money
When got within mile SO of home | told
him | could go the rest of the way myself. L
got along all right until came to place where
there should have been according to my caicu-
lation, a fence running in a certain direction,
but there was no fence there that could find.
1t was in the middle of winter showing and
blowing like all possessed, ard | knew 1t must be
considerably after dark. | in quite
quandary, and listened for a long time to hear
the bark Of dog or something that would give
me an idea of where / was but could hear
nothing. and it looked like it would be my last
trip, for if | once got bewdered / would very
likely have frozen to death. The happy thought
struck me that perhaps the fence had been
moved and when felt about in the snow with
my cane found few scattered rails that had
been left | went on them and got home all
right.
Eyes, I'll put my Judgment on the weight of
stock against any man around here. | sold lot
OF hogs short time ago and told the butcher
they would average over hundred and fifty
apiece. He laughed and said they would not go
over a hundred and forty, but when they We're
weighed he found | was correct. few years
ago | began to make a study of the color of
horses from the feel of the hair, and now l can
tell the color pretty nearly every time"
How do You do thatF
'Wel, you'll notice that bay horse generally
has smooth, short hair evenly distributed over
the body. If the hair of the legs is it
shows they are darker colored. Now, roam
feels something like bay. only in rubbing your
hands down you'll notice little offsets as if it
isn't even. Black horses have strong names and
tails, and hair generally little longer than
other horses. In gray the hair has dull.
dead like fceling-doesn't seem to have the life
others do. The name and tail of sorrel are
soft and fine and hair rather long, with SOFT
smooth feel to it."
Il attend to my stock myself, and they are
very much attached to me- I owned at one
time very intelligent horse of Arabian blood
| called her Julie. and could ride her to any
part of the country almost. If I put on my best
suit she took me to cnnrch, II was dressed In
my working clothes she would go to the store or
the blacksmith shop. When l came where
thought was near the road | wanted to turn off
at a Slight pressure on the rein of that side was
all Dpa1a0 ha fry off ybap no
came to the road But ! think one Of the most
intelligent things she ever did was one time
when the boys of the village got to making sport
of me | went to church. She would put back
her ears and look mad at them, people said, but
it was no use. They got worse every Sunday
There are two roads from here to- the church.
you know The nearest is through the
village, and the other is more roundabout. Well
one Sunday when we came to where the other
road turns off she struck into it. / thought
there was something up but let her 60 and sure
enough she went away around to the church.
Wouldn't go through the village to be made fun
of, you know. She died few years ago, and |
have never been able to find another one as in
telligent. Even when she was dying she was
considerate of me. | heard noise out in the
stable about the middle of the night and went
out She had got down crossways in the stall
and pushed the boards off ut one side. | tore
down the other side as to give her room. [
noticed that in her struggles she would throw
her head up so that was afraid she'd knock her
brains out, but if / held her head she would only
strike out with her feet for fear of hurting me-
you know.
Her colt, Toag l called him, was also a very
intelligent animal. He would come to the fence
just inside of the field there, where he could
look right into the window here, and call me
time and again when he thought | was slow
about coming out If went into the field he
would gallop towards me, so that you would
have thought he would have run over me- but
he would gallop past little piece. and come and
put his head over my shoulder. / would never
have sold him but at the advice of my friends,
who feared l couldn't control him"
THE most difficult feat l ever performed was
about a year ago. There's a man lives about
two miles from here who had borrowed collar
and strap from me, and refused to give them
up. quarreled with him one day and was 90.
ing to fight him. for told him I'd have those
things I'd take them out of his hide. The bv-
ISLANDERS wouldn't let us fight, 80 determined to
To his harm and GET m hoo