Savannah morning news., 1885-07-22
A BIhND FARMER.
How He Cooks uis Meals, Plants His
Garden and Runs His Farm.
From Ha Phi'adslDAid Timos

{
down an alley OF this little village. lie
walked with the stroug, confident steps OF
1 one who knows whore he is and where he
is going. At his heels followed large
4 black-and-tan dog, which, according to
4 all conventional ideas Of blind men, should
have been in the front, leading his master
/ by string. The man crossed the street
/ a few steps into the alley on the opposite
/ side, when he hesitated and felt about
/ with his stick to ascertain the lay 0f the
ground. He then retraced his steps to the
/ street, skilliuily stepping over small
/ pile Of boards. and then down the sidewalk
i to a small gate, which he opened without
! hes'ancy and entered.
/ "Yapl yapw said the little black-and-
/ tan finding himself shut out.
"Why, Sam, didn't YOU get In ~ said his
master, and he again opened the gate.
The man WAS Benson Taylor, we'll
i known in this locality as the blind farmer,
and the exploits OF the blind flower girl oi
/ the last days of Pompeii we're not more
remarkable than some things which are
to this farmer everyday occurrences.
His farm is between two aud three miles
/ from the village. aud be thinks nothing OF
starting out with no guide but his cane
and no companion but his dog TO come to
the store tor his groceries or 70 90 to any
of the neighbors on AN erranHIJ .lIe man
/ ages the farm himself and while, there are
"A number Of things which hR cannot 40,
such as plOwing and seeding yet there
are so many tiIirgs about the farnl which
he can and does ,dQ4h4t A4 i, Airly emit
/ tied to the milne OF farnier.f lie mas
cooked for himself for years, baking bread
and pies with ANarekf eaee, and even
allows himself Se6a sloTisIl @aA8laSury Of
sponge cake. The kitchen garden is
kept a very model Of neat aeSs,and cleanil-
ness, all the pIaE1Rg ana tohbns being
done by himself. Re milks and churns
with the ease Of z dQTYt maid. The al
most uniyersal 4ffreeAssg eh hisl judg-
ment of stock and the skill he Shows in
raieing il are indeed remarkable He is
gifted with a wdndetftfl memory, seldom
forgetting anything be cares toremember,
aud is never SO happy as when some
i friends read TO mm.k He Has = decided
/ taste for the sciences, being especially IN
! 1Grested in geology and botany.
Not d liTtle interested ~ the man who
has learned so wen 10 doh~fthOut eyes,
the writer called upon him and iouhd him
past middle age, broad-s d-shOuidered, dark
hair ard beard, and With iutelligence and
range OF Information nlrch ~ adHance Of
the average iarA9r.a 80 efae.alu a4f
Glow is il that you can travel over the
hills and hollows of this rough country
the way you do?" he was asked. lfa
"Oh, | learned the lay of the country
when | was a boy, and, as nidn't 20 en-
tirely blind untQ IaWas about Is, had
mapped out in any mind aha position OF
/ every gate, eand road In the country.
/ never was lostbut dAoe, and that was
one day when had been outwith neigh
Dor collecting s0Hee g4p0peY. 81 When we
had got within II nileof so ofshon1e1 told
! him could go the rest 90 the WAY myself.
| got along all right .pnt3 came 10 a
place where there should have been, ac-
cording To my calculation, a fence run
ming in a certain direction, bnt there was
no fence there thatal could Gnd. 1t was
4 in the middle OF winter showing and
/ blowing like all possessed, 1ftd tknew 1t
4 must be considerably after dark, i was
IN quite quandary, and lietenea for a
| long time TO hear the bark ~ 4 dog or
/ something that would give me an Idea of
where was, but / could hear nothing,
/ and il looked like IL would be my last trip,
/ for if | once got bewildered | would very
/ likely have frozen to death. The happy
/ thought struck me that perhaps the fence
4 had been moved, and when felt about in
4 the snow with my cane found "a few scat
1 tered rails that had been left, and / went
/ on then and got home all right.
/ "Yes, I'll put my judemenron the weight
! Of stock against any man around here. |
/ sold n lot OF hogs IA short time ago and
told the butcher they would,ayerage over
100 apiece He laughed and said they
wouldn't 90 over f40, but when they We're
weighed he found | was correct A few
wears ago began TO make a study of the
color Of horses from the feel Of the hair,
and now / can tell the color pretty nearly
every time"
Chow do you do that?7s 3aa.
"Well, you'll notice that q bay horse
generally has smooth, short hair, evenly
distributed over the body. II the hair OF
the legs IS coarser IL shows they are darker
colored. Now, IA roam feels something
like a bay, only in rubbing your hands
down you'll notice little 0iisets, as ii II
isn't even. Black horses have strong
names and tails and hair GENERALLY "a little
longer than other horses. in a gray the
hair has dun, dsadlike feelng-doean't
seem TO have tho lite that others do The
name and tail OF q s0rrel are soft and fine
and hair rather longer, with asoft, smooth
feel to it..
~ attend to my stock myself, and they
are very much attached 10 me. | owned
at ono time "a very intelligent horse OF
Arabian blood. / called her Julie. and
could ride her 70 any part sc The country
almost. II put on my best suit she took
me TO church. Ii / was dressed In my
working clothes she would go 70 the store
or blacksmith shop. When icamc where
| thought WAS near the road ! wanted
20 turn OF light pressure on the rem on
that side was all she needed, and she
would turn of whom she came 10 the road.
But think one of the most intelligent
things she ever did was one time when
the boys Of the village got t0makug sport
Of me as ! went 20 church. Sac would
put back her ears and look mad 40 them.
people said; but IL was no use. They got
worse every sunday There are two roads
from here TO the church, you know. Tho
nearest is through the village, and the
other 50 more roundabout. Well, one
Sunday, when we caiae 70 whore the other
roud turns of, she struck intoit. ! thought
there WAS something up. bat let her g8.
aud sure enough she went away around
to the church. Wouldn't 60 through the
village 10 be made fiin OF, YOU know. She
died a tew yearg ago, and ! have never
been able ~ find another one as intelll-
gent. Even when she was diving she was
cOnHideratO Of me. heard Wnolse cut in the
stable about the middle of bo night. and
went out. sho bad 600 down crossNayg
IN the stall and pushed the boards on 0t
one side. tore down me other side. SO as
to give her room. Noticed that in her
struggles She would throw her head up 80
that ! was afraid she'd knock her brains
] out but II ! held her head she would only