Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1897-05-28

ALICE A. HOLMES, THE BLIND 1OETEsS.
this country. On the way over little Alice
contracted smallpox from another child on
the ship. She was quarantincd in house
on Staten Island on landing. The physt-
clans of that day did not know how to
treat the disease properly, and she suffered
terribly, her cycsight being affected.
For u few years after her recovery she
was barely able to distinguish the sun
light. Then II q,.ck doctor operated on
her eyes, and instead Of restoring her sight
left her in total blindness. For five yea'rs
more she lived - most miserable life, grow
ing up in ignorance and cropping helpless
IL about. Then she was admitted to the
New York Institute For the Blind. There
she staid for seven years grccdily ucquir-
ing the knowledge that has dispcllcd so
much Of tho gloom of her life.
Shc learned TO read raised letters and to
write by pricking tho outlines of the let
tiers on paper. But in music she took tho
greatest delight and made rapid progress.
1T was found that she had great natural
talent, and this WAS developed until sho
was the pride OF the ns ION.
Then came povcrty, - ISIS Smith left
the institution to help i.>. widowed mother
in her single handed hat,lc with tho wolf.
:shc was /. fine musician and soon discov-
erred that she WAS a good teacher as we'll.
She secured pupils and for 20 years sup
ported herself in this way. Sho also wrote
the poetry which wcllcd up within her,
for her disposition had not been affected
by advcrsity ind misfortune, but roInnincd
sweet and sunny. Her poems nearly all
treat Of her af1liction, because she wrote
them for the purpose Of making her read
IL k~so rs a<,f
her life.
III 1913 she published her first volume,
which she called simply "Pocms of Alice
Holiness Tho modest little book attracted
considerable attention from tho reviewers,
for it is unusual to find Il blind authorcss:
Later she published two moro volumes OF
poetry, "Arcadiun Leaves" and ''Stray
Leaves" She also tried her hand Mt prose-
and published ono novel, entitled 'Ihe
Lost Vision," in which sho told in sim
pie, sincere manner the story of hor sight
less life. Her verses arc far from being
Miltonic and might not stand the test OF
scholarly criticism but it must be consid-
cred that her advantages were most pitt.
fully limited.
For five years Miss Holmes was al in
valid, and in this utterly helpless conli-
starvation. An appeal was made to her
brother, wealthy man in California, and
he provided for her board and paid for
medical attendance. In tho meantime sho
had made many kind friends in Jersey
City, ind for the last few yenrs sho has
been living in comparatively comfortable
circumstances She was SO years old, how
ever, before she became dependent upon
others.
Tho fortune which she has recently IN
keritcd comes from her brother, who was
William J. Holmes of Downievillc, Sierra
county, Cal. Flo had gone west when a
young man and had acquired nearly half
million in mining and business. She
does not yet know what tho amount of her
sharo will be- but it is estimated that 1t
will be about 100000. She says that she
will devote her money wholly to the relief
Of tho afflicted. She wants to have books
printed in raised type and put within the
reach of the blind. She says there are
enough Bibles, but that standard works OF
fiction and history. which she takes such
great delight in reading, arc most hard to
get, and these she means to have repro