Evening journal., 1893-02-06
AGAINST HARD ODDS.
MARVIN CLARK, A BLIND NEWSPAPER
WRITER, OF NEW YORK.

blindness Manages to Follow His Profess
sion and Keep Up with the Current
News of the Day.
Any afternoon of the week one may seein
The reading room of the Press club middle
aged man with a slight gray mustache sit
ting at a table, smoking n cigar and listen
ing with an air Of close attention 70 boy
who is reading a newspaper in an under
tone. If member of the club lounges mp
TO the table and says, 'Hello, Marvinl' the
listener will turn his head with a smile and
say, "Why, how are youw adding the name
Of the man, whether Smith, Jones or Rob
inson.
Unless you are a better judge Of such
matters than the ordinary human being,
you viii not notice that the man addressed
as Marvin is blind. The longer you watch
him the less likely you will be to see it.
But the man is blind, and has been blind
for nearly five years, so blind that he can
only distinguish light from darkness and
cannot in the least make out form or color.
Heis Marvin r. Clark, who, although blind,
yet writes newspaper articles that are
bought and printed and read, that COM
mand more attention than the efforts of
hundreds of men who hover about the New
York press.
For over thirty years Marvin Clark was
a newspaper man with rs good pair of
eyes as any of them. He was a reporter
copy reader, managing editor, in the very
heart of the rush that surges about that
busiest of places-the modern newspaper
office Then his sight began to fail. 1t was
a gradual dimming-frst a blur that
faded into mere idea of colored form; into
form without color; into the faintest Of
lights and shadows; into total darkness.
Then after u long period OF rest the mere
perception of night and day and darkness
and light came back TO him like the first
faint flicker Of struggling light seen far
back in the depths of a cave. With this
the improvement stopped, and aside from
the hope this little improvement gave the
darkness might as well have been complete.
OF all the misfortunes that can befall a
human being, that which came upon Clark
is the worst. From being an actor in the
most varied, least monotonous, most
breathless life man can lead, he became n
man in the midst Of the pitchy darkness Of
a night that is unpierced by light, that has
no dawning. He could hear with an acute
ness painfully sharpened the noise, the tu-
multi Of the rush about him. But he was
helpless; must sit with folded hands; must
rely utterly upon those about him.
His training had all been for newspaper
work. There was no occupation to which
he could turn his attention. He was not
rich and he was not the sort of man to sit
content a useless burden upon others. So
he set TO work to adapt himself to his
changed conditions. He resolved TO con-
tinue his newspaper work, accept the hand
leap fate had put upon him and continue in
the race. He bought typewriter and in
few minutes learned the keyboard so that
with a little care he could strike whatever
letter he wished not through having the
letters raised, because raised letters would
have cut the ends Of his fingers, but by
learning the distances between each key
and the edge OF the board. Then he hired
a boy TO read to him and he. was ready to
begin newspaper work.
Each day this boy reads the newspapers
Co him-the headlines of all articles, the
full text Of some, a few paragraphs Of
many Thus he keeps himself perfectly
informed of what is happening IN the world
each day. Added to this is the gossip he
hears from his friends, the newspaper men.
He is thus able to comment upon the news
or to store up what he has learned for fu-
ture use. In his thirty years Of experience
in New0York newspaper work he has gath
cred a vast amount of information about
men aud things. Further, he has still
greater amount Of knowledge Of where
things are to be got if he does not know
Through these sources he is ready to fur
nish special articles upon all sorts Of sub
jects. The newspaper special article is a
most important feature of the newspaper,
especially of the Sunday edition. Mr.
Clark can write interesting specials upon
things that were and also upon things that
are. He has only TO think of a good sub
ject. If there is reading to be done, his boy
can do it for him. If a man is to be inter
viewed, his boy can lead him to the man
Wereit it not that this roundabout method
took too much time he could dothe routine
newspaper news work.
He has learned the typewriter so wei
that he makes it turn Off for him copy thai
is clean and clear and most legible, incom
parably better than the copy that formerly
flowed from the end of his pencil. At frs
the newspaper editors were a bit shy of hi
writings because it seemed incongruOu
for a blind man to do newspaper work
when the newspaper is, above all things,
record OF things seen. But lGtterly the,
are getting used to him, and now his an
ticles appear regularly in many New Yorl
and Brooklyn papers
He has borne his afliiction with a coui
age and cheerfulness that is amazing, tina
shows the resources Of ischaracter. From
the first he faced the situation as If he coul
see it, and he has never staggered under th
several blows that have struck him-th
beginning of the failure of his sight, tn
total darkness, the announcement of
great specialist that he would never So
again ''What is the use Of complaining?
said he mo one but blind man ca
begin to understand what this darknes
means-this total dependence upon other
But must work l have to keep my min
occupied with my work, and that pass,
my days Latterly / have been trouble
with insomnia. Each morningat 3 o'cloc
wake up and can sleep no more. Whi
can dog ! cannot read. No one can CON
and talk 20 me at that time. l must 4
there in the darkness, helpless and alon
waiting for daylight and the boy who
eyes to me That is my greatest hardship
and / must confess that sometimes m
philosophy is not equal to it."-New Yor
Sun.
when Peaked shoes Were Worn.
When our country was first settled rouu
a.