The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-12
BLIND, DEAF OR DUMB.
which Is the worst of These Three
Affections.
From the Hartford Times.


If blind man were asked this question
he would probably answer-bIindness; if a
deaf man-deafness; and If a dumb man
dumbness. To those Of us who can see
and hear and speak, the only method of
getting a decisive answer to the ques-
ton is to compare the disadvantages un-
der which the bind. the deaf. and the
dumb respectively labor.
Take the case of the man who Is born
blind. The position Of such man. it is
obvious, is altogether different from that
Of man who has become blind early or
late In life. Homer could not have writ
ten the Had and the Odyssey, nor could
Milton have written Paradise Lost and
Paradise Regained, If they had not been
Dlind. The memory of what they had
seen remained with them as a treasure in
their blind old age. But the man who is
born blind has no such treasures of mem
DRY. he has never looked up into the
heavens, nor abroad upon the earth and
sea. He has never seen the noble monu-
ments or human skill and power in city
and country. OF color he has no conceD-
ton, and no description of a rainbow CON
Veys any clear idea to his mind. OF form
AZ MS knowledge is gained from those
things he can touch and handle His
sense of touch may be finer and his sense
Of hearing more acute than those of a man
VINO can see, but from what a world of
grandeur and beauty is the man born
blind shut OUT He lives in the world of
perpetual darkness.
The blind. it is evident, require more as
sistance from others than either the deaf
or the dumb. A blind man can learn to
move about room by his sense Of touch
and feeling for locality But everything
must be kept always in the same place
IN strange house or room he is quite
at sea. Alone. he cannot walk abroad in
town or country. He cannot dress or eat
without assistance. He can read books
specially prepared for the blind but he
cannot read book or newspaper in ordi-
nary type.
Miltons daughters used to read to him
ana write for him, and some one must do
these things for every blind man. if they
are done at all. The blind are fortunate.
who can command readers and secretaries.
The case of the late Mr. Fawcett well
illustrates what a blind man can do with
the necessary help from others that his
condition requires. By an accident, Mr.
Fawcett lost his sight when he was %
years of age. Notwithstanding his loss
ne wrote great book on political econo-
my, and became in turn a professor of
mathematics at Cambridge. a member OF
Parliament ana a British minister His
career as postmaster general was indeed
remarkable. He made himself familiar
with every detail Of postoffice work, and
introduced the parcel post, postal orders
ana slXpenny kilograms. He could ride
skate, swim and 20 a-6shing-always OF
course, with the necessary help. The man
who is born blind has very little chance
of such usefulness or distinction.
Then take the case of the man who is
born deaf. His eye is open to all the
beauty of the wOrld-the starry heavens
the green earth. the restless sea and ali
the marvellous monuments of human in
genuity and power He sees the hash of
the lightning, but he hears not the peal
of the thunder. He may look on the Falls
of Niagara, but he hears not their multi
tudinous roar. To him the traffic of our
streets and the swift railway train seem
to move on in silence. He has never heard
the prattle of children, the dear voice of
rather or mother, the song of the sweet
singer, or the burning words of the ora
tor He is conscious of his loss, and we
need not marvel If his face be sad or his
temper capricious.
In the streets he is almost as helpless
as blind man. As the blind man cannot
see the approach of danger, so the deaf
man cannot hear it. He is much more
cut off from intercourse with his fellow
men than blind man. For the man who
Is born deaf Is also dumb. He can only
communicate with others in the language
OF the dumb-a language Of signs. He
can learn lip-reading and be taught to
articulate, but his articulation is usually
difficult TO comprehend or even unintelh-
gible Still, he is capable of being highly
educated and of acquiring almost every
trade. one deaf mute has been a bar
rister, a conveyancer; of course, not a
pleader. Another has passed the Cam
bridge local examination in classics and
mathematics.
Let us now briefly glance at the case of
the man who Is born dumb. We have il
on high authority that where partial or
total dumbness exists with the sense of
nearing perfect, II arises either from
nervous debility or mental arrangement,
and not from organic malforma ton
There may have been cases OF organic
malformation which have escaped the OBJ
servation of medical men, but such cases
must be extremely rare. But from what
ever cause, there are dumb men with the
senes of hearing perfect. Such men are
evidently less afflicted than deaf mutes,
and the loss of speech is not so great a
loss as the loss of sight. If o dumb mans
body be feeble or his mind weak, he may
n
tages than either the blind or the deaf
but these disadvantages do not arise from
his dumbness. Therefore, our answer to
the question that stands at the head of
deaf is worse, but to be blind is worst