The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1890-03-29
Bralny Blind MEN.

/ & #fe tne list vi blind wonders
l'k3ly begins 1t Is difficult to learn.
EyRf country has had them. Fuse
I ~ =. iTSsssi;iidii iTSsssi;iidii tiieologian, who lived
Inezf Re beginning of the Christian
titf'S pay very appropriately head
+ Hefy. the author of the "POetic
l'se n Wallace" was born blind.
ffff mnn TOrrentius, a blind Swiss,
IpQt1n 1920, became one " the prin.
gika''spf the University at Bern, the
Isu1nW of poclical dictionary OF
fieTlh besides works on history and
Ib4iAuy.
5 Erapcis Huber. the Swiss natural
Iist. iet his sight at an early age. be.
caM0an eminent entomoIogist. and
ySssSis9;l bees. ants andother Insects.
I's@sVS1 Metcaif. most wonderfu4
PREDICTION of the last century. was
born at Knaresborongh, Yorkshire,
England, in1717. AT the age of four
years Il hard attack of the mea. les
struck him ttaIly blind so blind
thai the brightest rays of the sun
gave him no PERCEPTION of light. At
f1rst he learned huSir, and. at the
aye Of twelve, wan the most expert
yiolinist in all England. When he
arrived at mans estate he was owner
0fa house, IA small frm and horse
and carriage. AT the age of twenty
!hree he was 4 well known carrier.
engaged in the Occupation of carry ing
persons through the crowded streets
to and from places of amusement,
Besides his street work he frequently
engaged to carry travellers to YORK,
a distance OF sixteen miles, In all
this hazardous work he was AS tru,ty
As any man with two eyes, and got
into hut few diffirulties from which
he could not easily eXtrcate himself.
He became Il great hunter, and fol-
lowed the hounds with a. much
pleasure and AS surely as the most
keen eyed hunter. He had his own
horse, and could tell the baying of
his own hounds among hundreds
AT the age Cf forty he began the
study of surveying and brid9e-build-
ing. This not for idle pastime, but
for profit. AT une time he was the
official surveyor Of Yorkshire. Eyen
to this day there are dozens of mon
uments to Joseph Metralf in his ma.
ff 'NtSe shire in tie shape of elegant
r,a-signS aud splendid bridges. AT
| Hu,ier>field one of the finest and
moi substantial bridges is known to
hae been constructed hy him.
knamesake of onr great American
temperance lecturer, John Cough,
alstan Emglishman 10y birth, becaEte
que celebrated as Il botaniSt and
wrier on sui jpctS pertaining to nat
ura philosophy. He was totally
blind from the age of three years.
thesen-e of vision being 50 deadcned
tint he could not perceive the glare
of ,unlight upon the snow on the
brightest of winter days. Disabled
bythis appalling affllctioE, he stui-
iet botany, his wife, brothers and
si.ers doing his reading, and collect.
ed aud arranged, hv the sense Of
touch atone, and without the least
aid from any human being, one of
he largest and most valuable col
lectiOns of dried herbs and grasses
at that time (l780) knoWn in Britain.
That wonderful invention, the
string alphabet for the blind, was in
vented by "A man who never saw MS
uuper.lOOking machine, the face Of
his mother. or the "glad sunlight" of
which he so ftelinely wrote. David
Maraheth was bind from birth, yet
perfect gerius in a dnznn different
ways. He was an accomplished mu
sieian, a perfect prodigy in mathe-
maiicS, and an inventor OE no mean
order of merit. Besides his string
-sIt,t,s bet. he was the inventO: of one
of the earliest known revolving
rel churns, of a clamp to be used by
boOk-binders in stitching leaves to-
gpther, and of a seIf,oiling attach.
mpnt for wagons and carriages. He
cauld take his watch to pieces and
put it together almost as quickly AS
the man who made 1t could have
done. 1t was without a crystal and
by gently touching the hands with
the tips of his fingers he couldf tell
within one second of the time of day
or night. He was an expert at the
national game of cricket, and was
reckoned as heing one of the most
valuable men in some parts of the
game. but useless in others. When
he dted he had been engaged for
years on the perfection of fire es-
caIe. which has since, with some
slight changes and additions, made a
London firm independent.