Arizona silver belt., 1895-05-11
A MUSICAL MARVEL.
Blind Tom, tho Pianist, and His
 Wonderful Talent
The Discovery or iiia Remarkable Glft aud It's Development -Eeceptricitlc" or Che slghtless Nnstor of
 the Plano

The recent death oi Gen Bethune, the original ownorof tho musical negro liup boy known as Blind Tom, has aroused mgcb pdbli7 curiosity 2a to the disappearance ef Tom from view The D t information ! have been able to h'ai1 is that he is passing the closing
 gs of his lii0 in a luuatic asylum, his
 as.l having taken on too dangerous a lsriu e admit of his going freely uHeg a heretofore.
 5u was born ia @useogec county, 4a., gIvs a writer ln Kate Fields sA.aglnn' lis fathers name was #aeJ la9 his mother was called by a,y oHncg Aunt Charity While he was s,ila boy, and supposed to De a jltoneaal himself in his master house, aadalter midnight creep into the par 9rs and play Che same aUs with which his young mistress had enter tanoa her guests few hours before, being cautious to suppress his notes by holding bis foo, ou tue soft pedal. He Hls soon dctca.ea, however, end geprl- mHlded, A wildec view was taken of his shortcomings when bis master dis covered that the boy's gift might be uru-d Co profitable account, mean EGIs, tho children 0i the household l..Eaya5 with his marvellous powers had no, siayed to defy .he discipline al ,heir elders aud encourage htm to u'ev for them 0n the sly,
 Besides being a remarkable player of 1.aor peoples music Tom was com poser huHcJE He was ucar enough JC one of jha battofclda oi llic civil war ta catch lao sounds from it aud these be Wov lutaa piece which his mana ger wgil-d for popular effect The Batse pt &auas@s Init tac piauo is n 5g Co Initiate the music u' tHa Ules and drums, tae changes of Che cacalcy tae huuGnr lG a battery, Che gr9lu5 a sa w1aa3el and dying, and aii the incidents c. ggeas GEal 70 faithfully Eta eal upa puowwa ol tag scene before the minds efe of tae listener
 One Uf lal taa@ which rom wac ae- ca,.oued Co perform u public Co the amz,uan, oL his audiences was the Imitation of any piece ot music per larlaI r his hearing by 9 stranger. -ane 3f tAes pisGcs Wadl so great an impression on him Chat begarrieI chem a Hs ulad for long perigd and then e1u.a reproduce chem Ji HUl A story which sreg gDeNaat apucrgph.l was fold Gn y 5lae4Cr uf mgs.c ia .agu- Indies seminary a May!Fnd rn. u-H- Tom gs hae.ag carried iu a uouarg ial gtyCae years. Ro.C
 note HsrG1s waltz winch had
 r.Hrgd before .Iu DE mr inform -E.aar.a test aa a1li,g which, aa fer gs EG."n nc Uavar attempted
 again su a]l taat period When J e-- rested tat JAeru was @ possibility
 laa lEng hai Che sau piece played H .u2r haavs ia tag interval Ea his m0gw ra.tealcd
 e8 nre'ma t1al.Aiaa could
 aau before T.aviar ls Jo nH la had rewrig.eH taa waltz adapt
 l1 orga4i Jeuau .orm to contained uauHgr Of vgria-
 as I ggy touches ai hls own. Tom rcn dsd a'l thcse iueidea,als sl.r ar taisb,u,aeys
 The Aerv that Tom must be of
 lr lti-u given t0 @ would 51 very misleading sound, rather chan harmony was waat ap- 1eaIed To his intellect. such as i5 was,
 md bis reproductions were governed ,g th1 zu. of accuracy rather than
 inspired % artistic genus it used 70 he aid o5 a.m thas the crying Of a child afforded him secu delight and when be could mo draw tgrtHgs much sound as He wanted from his young companions by ordinary processes, be would bite and pinch them for tac pur- pose ot nearing theil sarigk9 of pain AS he maturad he developed Q power iul hone frame and great muscular
 urth which he czcrled % the ser 9l q mtHTs of anybody who op- posed his wishes f kept uvgy from piano when ne wanted 70 play. he ari6 bang his head 9galu jle "ail and an chairs aeouud the room. Once while staying at hotel on one gs his concert tours, be iHa's-el on asaga lgl piece of uusig in the
 aUao of the night regardless of the aa r uf tho other gHasgs llisagent
 lPe5 t5 check him, but was
 zai ag Tom and lhrowu out of be room wl.h great violence On another occasion in Washington he was visited by q nan yhoso presence was distaste- tul to him and he uapHestgj his dis ike by pitching the poor fellow down stairs
 Possibly Toms present exclusion has other reasons behind it besi3c3 his in- s-ea aiag coa-auigi..as The legal con- al of Li5 time and services has been for some yeni8 tllo subject or liJiga- Gou ia the courts Gen Bethme .upcd the caro Of tho boy over Co his arn at ono time, end Che sou's wife claimad her husbands rights after the alf-rs dca,h J believe the case has leve been finally settled, and it may be that one or tha other party t0 the controversy has thought it wise to keep Tom out of sight until his fate can be decided
 Iho Longevity uI Taa5a nod rroEs Said
 70 ga snrpris.u-