, 1889-05-25
BLIND AND YET SEES.
A BOSTON MAN WHO WOULDN'T
RECOVER HIS SIGHT IF HE COULD.

without n Guide.
A Stone blind man whose vision Is perfect
A man who lost his eyesight thirty-hve years
ago, and wouldn't recover 1t II he could. A
man who says seeing is quito unnecessary and
a hindrnnce to the full enjoyment of life. A
man who gets along in the world much better
and makes moro money than many persons
with two good eyes.
Many Of tho readers Of The Globe have
doubtless seen around the south and west
ends OF Boston a thick set, medium sized man,
apparently about 40 years Of age, with oval
face, blonde mustache and genial expression,
walking along with confident step, carrying
a cane and dragging behind him a black valise
on little wheels. He keeps to the right of
other pedestrians, turning out for all OBJ
stacles, picking his way easily through dense
crowds, and when he comes to q crossing,
picking up his valse and carrying it to the
other side, where he sets 1t down and contin-
ues his course. At tho first glance no one
would think he was totally blind, but if you
look sharply and notice tho peculiar carriage
OF his head, and especially If you see the inces-
SAINT motion of his restless eyeballs, you will
be convinced that the physical sense of sight
Is wholly lacking.
This man is Marcus II. Josselyn- He lives
at 1874 Eustis street in neat and tastefully
furnished apartments. Every week day
morning he starts out with his yalise to visit
bis customers. he has his regular routes
and calls on each of his 1000 patrons regu-
laSly once a month His business, which has
grown to its present proportions as the result
OF twenty years hard and systematic work,
Is the selling of needles, thread, tape, safety
pins, corset laces and "such like" articles SO
dear and so necessary to the feminine heart.
Ho derives n snug little income from his bust
ness
WALKED AROUND THE COAL PILE.
MIR. Jossclyn knows the streets of Boston as
well as nny policeman, and can find his way
around the town as easily as any herdic
driver. lie can start from his home and 90
on foot by the most direct way to Charles
street, for instance, without making any in
quiries; or he can walk straight home from
Bowdoin square without asking anybody tho
way. In the same manner he goes direct to
tho houses OF his customers, no matter where
they live.
Mr.. Josselyn was one day going along the
sidewalk, when he suddenly stopped, picked
up his valise, went out into the street, walked
eight or ten steps and then returned to the
sidewalk to resume his course. Some work
men were watching him, and one of them,
moro amazed than tho rest, called out:
"Begorry, sir, IL yez blind, how did yez
know a pile of coal WINS lynn on the side
walkF'
Mr.. Josselyn did not know anything about
the coal that INSTRUCTED the sidewalk, nor
could he explain to his questioner how it was
that he was able to avoid 1t as well as If he
had seen 1t. On another occasion he WINS
standing in front of a building, when he sud-
denly stepped backward close against the
wall The next moment a huge mass of
mow fell down from the roof right upon the
spot where he had been standing. The blind
man had not been warned by tho rustling of
the snow on tho roof, but in a very different
manner.
Hc was stopped ono day on the street by a
man who said;
SEQ here, sir, they say you're blind, but
I've been following you for an hour, and
watching you closely. If you were blind
you couldn't get along as you do, mover run
ming against anybody or anything, walking
last and always stopping at the right house
without hesitating. 1 don't believe you're
blind Its truo l 1 mover saw eyes like yours
except in a blind man, but then that con-
tinual rolling of the eyeballs must be simply
a trick of yours Now you might as well be
frank and tell me all about it.n
But MIR. Josselyn very properly refused to
crafty tho idle curiosity of a stranger who
had insulted him, and SO he merely assured
him that no was In reality as blind as a bat.
A reporter recently visited Mr.. Josselyn
Nv LIS hOiAi1 III " oabLS11 lIuSe1 Ill TcEuIu
TO his blindness, but to ask him how tho world
really looked toa blind man and inquire what
mysterious sense it was, what subtle faculty,
what unerring intuition, which supplied tho
deficiency of physical sight.
OTHERS SEE FOR HIM.
"Oh, I'm not blind" said Mr.. Josselyn,
cheerily, land 1 don't like to have it thought
that 1 am. L see as we'll as anybody, but In a
different way. Not c~lairvoyantly, but actu-
u a11v o1thourh ,NA ,r,tl e.
are sightless. Others see for me, and 1 use
their vision. They are with mo all tho time.
ut may not seem very probable or even
Ineligible to you" said Mr.. Josselyn In re-
ply to tho reporters inquiry, "but tho only
explanation 1 can give Is that my guides are
spirits. 1t is they who SEQ for me and keep
me out of danger. How they are able to do
1t Is as great q mystery to mo as to you But
of their actual existence 1 have no more doubt
than of my own AND how could 1 doubt,
with the thousand daily proofs of their pres
enceI In walking along the street or any
where else, IL l should turn to the left to
avoid an obstacle, l feel q pressure ON my
right shoulder Just as distinct and real to me
as you feel the weight of my hand on your
arm" continued Mr.. Josselyn, as he touched
tho reporters arm. at is q purely physical
sensation, the same that I feel when touched
by a mortal hand. The nerves are affected in
PioSSSiJ bHo iLh why. 1OuBnb 70 Iurn
to the right, the pressure is on my left shout
der. If it is necessary to stop and stand still,
l feel the invisible barrier right in front of
me, making it impossible for mo to go on
until it is removed.
"You may think 1t all a hallucination that
has no existence outside my brain, but it is a
h~allucinntion with a practical value upon
which l can always depend to lead me If 1
yield myself up to it. Some days, when
nm feeling dull or insensible, I am not as
susceptible to the warnings, and when 1 do
pend upon myself alone, disregarding the e1-
ternal influences, 1 get into trouble"
Mr.. Josselyn, having lost his sight when
he vas only 8 years old, has not a very vivid
recollection of how external objects look to
persons will sight. Ho says he remembers
the appearance of the caterpillar crawling
along the ground, and also how tho water
looked that was churned by the wheels of the
ferryboat- OF color he has no clear concep-
ton. Besides being a good business man Mr..
Josselyn is a fine musician, playing tho piano
with exquisite feeling. He is what Spirit
ualists call "a sensitive" and perceives a
great many things by a finer sense than that