The Wichita daily eagle., 1895-03-23
is HEARD NO MORE
Blind Tom, the Pianist, and His
Wonderful Talent.
The Discovery OF His Remarkable Gift
and Its DeveIopment-Eccentri
of the Sightless Master of
the Piano.

The recent death of Gen. Bethune,
4be original owner of the musical negro
slave boy known as blind Tom, has
aroused much public curiosity as to the
disappearance of Tom from view. The
hest information / have been able to
obtain is that he is passing the closing
davs of his life in a lunatic asylum, his
vagaries having taken on too dangerous
a form to admit of his going freely
about as heretofore
Tom was born in MuScogee county,
Ga. saws a writer in Kate Field
Washington. His fathers name was
NIingo, and his mother was called by
her owner Aunt Charity. While he
was still boy, and supposed TO be
mere idiot as well as sightless, he used
toconceal himself in his masters house,
and after midnight creep into the par
lors and play the same airs with
which his young mistress had enter
tanned her guests few hours before,
being cautious to suppress his notes by
holding his foot on the soft pedal. He
was soon detected, however, and reprl-
manded. A milder view was taken OF
his shortcomings when his master dis
covered that the boys gift might be
turned TO profitable account; mean
while. the children of the household,
delighted with his marvellous powers,
had not hesitated to defy the discipline
of their elders and encourage him to
play for them on the sly.
Besides being remarkable player of
other peoples music, Tom was COM
poser himself. lie was near enough to
one Of the battleficldS Of the civil war
20 catch the sounds from II, and these
lhe wovc into piece which his mana
ger entitled, for popular effect: ''The
Battle OF Manassas" In II the piano IS
made to initiate the music Of the flies
and drums, the charges of the cavalry,
the thunders of battery, the groans
of the wounded and dying, and all the
incidents Of a great fight 50 faithfully
rs to call up a panorama of the scene
before the mind 5 eye Of the listener.
One Of the feats which Tom was ac-
lcustoTacd to perform in public to the
amazemcnt OF his audiences was the
imi#ation Of any piece of music per-
formed in his hearing by a stranger.
lSorae of these pieces made SO great an
Impression on him that he carried them
in his mind for long period and then
could reproduce them AT viii. 4 story
(which seems somewhat apocryphal was
hold me by teacher Of music in a
lyoung ladies' seminary in Maryland,
representing Tom as having carried in
Fhis memory for twenty-One years, note
for note, a German waltz which had
Ibeen played before him by my inform
ant in order to test his ability, and which,
las far as known, he never attempted
again during all that period. When
suggested that there was a possibility
pf Toms having heard the same piece
lplayed by other hands in the interval
and thus kept his memory refreshed,
the professor assured me that this could
rot be so. because before playing it TO
TON he had rewritten the waltz, adapt
ing It from its original German form to
onc which contained a number of varia-
ficns and fancy touches of his own.
Tom reproduced all these incidentals
with absolute faithfulness.
The theory that Tom must be of a
gentle disposition because so given to
hnusic would be very misleading. Sound,
rather than harmony, was what ap-
pcaled TO his intellect, such as it was
snd his reproductions were governed
iby the rules of accuracy rather than
hnsPiIoed by artistic genius. 1t used to
Doe said OF him that the CRYING of
Ehnd afforded him keen delight, and
wilen he could not draw forth as much
soul,d as he wanted from his Young,
COM aEions by ordinary processes, he
hwoulo bite and pinch them for the pur-
pose OF hearing their shrieks of pain.
LAs BE matured he developed a power
aul bone frame and great muscular
strength, which he exerted TO the Sc
rioJls discontinue of ANYBODY who op-
posed his wishes. If kept away from a
piano when he wanted to play, he
wouiG bang his head against the wall
and throw chairs around the room.
Once. while staying 1T a hotel on one
of his concert tours, he insisted on
play.ag a loud piece of music in the
miadle Of the night, regardless of the
com: or Of the other guests. His agent
ntten pted TO check him, but was
seized by Tom and thrown ont of the
roorr wish great violence. On another
occasion IN Washington he was visited
by man whose presence was distaste-
sul 10 him, and he manifested his dis
Bike by pitching the poor fellow down
Stairs.
PosSlbl Toms present seclusion has
ptheG reasons behind il besides his in
creasing eocenuicitieS. The legal con
troll of his time and services has been
sor some years the subject of litiga-
zion in the courts. Gen. Bethune
turned the care of the boy over to his
Son at one time, and the sons wife
rlaimed her Husbands rights after the
iatter'S death. | believe the ease has
never been finally settled. and il NAV
be that one or the other party to the
controversy has thought it wise 10 keep
Tom out of sight until his fate can be
Eecided
Noto-man.