The Emporia weekly news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1881-1889, 1889-12-05
FAMOUS BLIND MEN.
vidal, the sculptor. Caspa.sn srr,burn .

SS~-~--e A--G sculptor C4EDz&11 ELlkDuFM and
1nventOE HerreshOR.
Vidal, the blind sculptor, is one of the
wonders Of the French capital. He has
been blind since his twenty-frst wear.
We can quite easily understand how n
blind farmer would cultivate the ground
with the plow, spade and hoe. How he
would feel around the tender plants and
gently loosen the dirt from their roots.
or how the blind Birmingham (Ala.l
miner tells, with the sense of touch
alone, the direction and to what depth
to drill his holes before putting in a
blast. but the work of Vidal stands out
in bold relief, unique, wonderful ana
incompatible. To be q SCULPTOR f is
generally supposed that one must have
the mechanics eye' and the artists
taste and perspicuity. The latter facul.
ties Vidal has to an exceptional degree
even more acute, he believes, than If
the former were not lost to him forever.
BY slowly passing his hands over an OBJ
jet he notes Its external proportions,
and initiates them in clay in q manner
which strikes the beholder dumb with
surprise. A dog, horse, human face or
any thing alive or dead, he models with
as much ease as any of the dozens of
Partisan sculptors who still retain the
faculty OF sight
From 1855 to 1878 Vidal received more
medals than any other exhibitor OF
works in the Paris art exhibitions.
Many OF his works, made in the solitude
OF his perpetual midnight, were on
the shelves at the great Exposition,
where the blind wonder commended in
friendly rivalry with his less unfortu-
nate brother artists. He never COM
plains. is always genial and festive
when among his friends, who always
speak of and to him as though he could
see, and we'll may they do so, for he is
one of the best art critics in all Paris.
Rev. w. H. Milburn, known through.
out the civilized world as 1.-The blind
preacher" and who is actively in the
field at the present time, is one of the
most remarkable men of the age. He
was born in Philadelphia in 1923. He
totally lost the sight of one eye when
quite young, the other becoming rapid
~ impaired from sympathy, so much so
that 1T soon darkened forever. With
spirit undaunted he studied and was
ordained as q minister at the age of
twenty, and, it is claimed, travelled over
two hundred thousand miles filing ap-
pointments in the Southern States.
Within the last thirty years he has
preached in nearly every State in the
Union and some European countries.
He has been chaplain of the House of
Representatives at Washington, besides
filling many other important positions.
AS writer he is known as the author of
"Ten Years of a Preachers Life"
''Rifle, Axe and Saddlebags' and ''Pio-
neer Preachers of the Mississippi VAL
ley"
Mr.. Herreshoff, the blind president of
the Herreshof Manufacturing Company,
of Bristol, R. l., seems as much out Of
his element in his present capacity as
the blind sculptor. Aside from Edison,
the Government has recognized him as
being one of the greatest inventors of
the times. Many of the torpedo boats
and steam launches now used by this
and all the civilized governments on the
globe, are the inventions OF this sight
less genius. His steam launches have
made the highest speed with but few
exceptions, and his tOrpedo-boats are
ranked among the most efficient in use.
He works on his models in the quiet of
the night shut up in the darkness of his
room, but this is all the same to HERE
shoff-the brightest midday would be
to him as black as the darkest midnight
St Louis Republic.