St. Landry democrat., 1886-10-16
a BLIND TRAVELLER.
DR.. Gampbells Chat About fHs Londee
College-Climbins the Alps,

SOAcSc-NA"UHAS shC AIPSs
One of the most remarkable blind{
men in the world has just paid q
flying VISIT to Washington. He is Dr.
Francis j. Campbell, LIZ. D., principa4
of the Royal Normal College and Acad"F
envy of Music for the Blind in London.
A native of Tennessee, for many years.
a resident of Boston, he went to Europe,f
especially to Germany, in 1869, to|
study, and he was mainly instrumental !
in 1872 in founding the great INSTITUTE
ton Of which he has ever since been,
and still is, the principal He comes tol
this country at the present time nomi-
nally as royal commissioner to inves-E
tigate and collect information about the!
best methods Of educating the blinE
that obtain here, but principally to.
show to the people OF America some off
the results produced by the lioyaF
Normal College. He is an Americana
citizen and owner of property in thisE
country. and is working for the estab-
lishment of a National college itT
America for the higher education off
the blind. In the Royal Normal Col-i
lege in London, over which Dr.. Camp
bell presides, music is one of the main;
objects, but the education given is gent
eral. The college embraces a prepara%
tory school, a grammar and high schools
4 technical school and an academy off
music. A great deal of attention isl
paid to physical training The doctort
is little man, approaching sixty years.
of age, wears dark glasses to cover his
empty eye-cases, and dark gray beard;
In conversation he is as frisky as ID
a Frenchman, his features are eniiv-t
ened with 4 wonderful animation. hcl
talks quickly, and there is a pcculialf
ehildlike cheerfulness in his tone that
is only found in blind men, and only inn
few of them.
physical exercise is most essential
in the education of the blind said thet
doctor. Il have generally found in ths
college that it has taken as much efortt
to overcome their habits of idlenesS
and Incidence as to give them the
training for their special avocations.s
As Il rule, said he, ''the vitality of thef
blind is below the average vitality of
seeing persons. The lack of physical
power leads to Incidence, timidity anh
encouragement. The blind mast be-
reused from their willingness to de!
pend upon others, and made to believe
in the possibility of independence ana
success We give our pupils courage
and vitality by gymnastic exercises.
We have very well appointed gymnas
sum connected with the college. Wa
teach the boys TO swim, too, and skate,
They don't have any more falls ilf
learning to skate than seeing people
do, and the falls they necessarily rei
eeive give them hardihood that is
worth everything to them
Yes" said the doctors son, we
have some boys who can play around
on the ice and describe fancy figures as
neatly as yon OF | OF perhaps the most
expert skater you can find in Washmg-
ton"
Does every one get the ice al to
himself in turn or do they all skate as
once and together?' asked the reporter.
If many skated at time woam there
not be frequent coliisionsP'
The ice-pond is circular in shape
was the reply, with a sm:lll islet in
the center, profusely set wi tn trees and
shrubbery that overhang. This little
islet in the center gives an echo by
which the boy knows how far he is
from the bank. A dozen. of them VIII
often skate for half am hour around
that pond without single stumble
The echo prevents them from running
into the bank. When fhey have skated
perhaps half an hour in the one direc.
tion bell is rung, ard then they turn
and skate perhaps for the same lengtts
of time the other way. They 60 round
on the ice with just As free and easy q
swing as the contes fants in skating
match at Madison Square Garden, irs
New York.
Doctor, you climbed the Alps once
yourself?''
80, yes. In 1880, l think it was,
assembled to the; top of Mont Blanc.
My son. who was then only nineteen
years old, accompanied me, and was
the first of his age who ever rose tor
that height But Mont Blanc is not
by any means the most difficult mount
ain to climb. never will forget being
showed up for twenty-three hours Oh
the Matte rhorn. That was in 1882. I
thought J. was never going to get down.
1t rather dulled my appetite for mount.
ain air, but am very fond of travel and
exercise. You see I have so muc,r
thinking to do that a great deal OF
physical exercise is necessary for me.
Two years ago my son and I took Il
tandem tricycle. across the clseDnel.
ard crossed the continent on it from,
Sweden to Russia. We brought the
machine with us to New York, where
we arrived from England last Monday,
and we intend to do a good deal of
riding on it. But this country is too
big and distances are too great to cover