Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1897-05-20
BLIND TOM AT HOME.
CHARACTERISTIC DIVERSIONS IN HIS
COMMENTED OLD AGE.
The simple Minded Fellow Whose Won.
derfuI Musical Gift Made Him Famous
the World over Now Lives Quietly at
NaYesink Highlands. n. j.


NaYesink Highlands. n. j.
"What has become of Blind Tomfr
This question Is often asked by old the
alter goers, who remember the days before
the war, when the gifted musical idiot
was the star attraction in lyceums, town
halls and lecture rooms, with which the
simpler tastes of most amusement seekers
of those times were satisfied.
Tom was only "A lad then, the slave Of a
Georgia planter, and his mental weakness,
together with his blindness, served To in
crease the interest of those who saw and
heard this ignorant little fellow, with un-
erring touch, draw from the pianoforte Its
sweetest and most melodious strains AS
well as its grandest and most solemn har
monies.
The question as to Blind Toms where
abouts can be answered best by tall,
broad shouldered, neatly dressed colored
man, whose gray hair and sightless eyes
increase the impressiveness of his appear
ance i'm comfortable cottage at the High
lands of Navesink on the New Jersey side
of the lower New York bay. This elderly
colored man Is the Blind Tom of today,
and for several years he has lived there in
ease and comfort with his guardian, Mrs.
Eliza Lerche, who was appointed ten years
ago by Justice Andrews of the supreme
court as committee Of the person and prop
erty of the musician She was then the
widow of John c. Bethune, who had
charge of Blind Tom for many years, and
the old man was given into her care only
after long legal struggle with her father
in law, James y. Bcthune.
When Mrs Bethune took charge of Tom,
she found that his popularity as IA public
attraction had greatly waned, owing To
the fact that he had been before the public
many years, and that his former managers
had made all the money they could out OF
the peculiar musical talent of the simple
minded colored man without preserving
his value as an attraction by replacing his
wornout repertory with more modern mu-
steal pieces Tom was also getting old
and was physically worn out 10y the night
and day travel consequent ON one night
stand performances He had been handed
over To Mrs. Bethune, with no money and
no property, personal or otherwise, out of
the hundreds of thousands of dollars which
he had earned during the previous quarter
of IA century So il was necessary TO keep
him at work awhile longer To provide for
his future maintenance in case he became
disabled by age or infirmities, and also to
enable him To take care Of his old mother,
who was still alive i'm one of the southern
states and looked to Tom for support.
Mrs. Bethune, who was then Mrs.
Lerche having married Albrecht j.
Lerche, the lawyer who had fought her
legal battles in the courts, saved enough
money to warrant the temporary with
drawal of Blind Tom from the amusement
world, so that he might recover his health
with modern musical compositions.
Tom enjoys his long rest after so many
years of incessant travel and work. He
does very little visiting among his neigh
bors and receives few callers at his cottage,
He finds sufficient companionship in his
piano. He passes hours at time at the
piano, playing his old pieces and practic
ing new ones. Occasionally he attempts
improvisation, but even then the initiative
faculty prcdominates, as the notes he picks
out are usually the reproductions of sounds
that be has heard His best effort i'm this
line was "A piece entitled What the Wind
and the Waves Told Tom, " in which he
initiated the whistling of the wind, the
roaring of the waves, the bowling storm
and the crash of thunder.
When not at the piano. Tom amuses
himself by initiating the small talk of
women and other visitors to the Lerche
cottage. He holds imaginary receptions,
at which the weather, new styles in dresses
and like topics are discussed by the imagi
nary visitors, as initiated by Tom, in "a
way that is very comical, but he will not
do IL if he knows there is any one listening
to him
In spite Of his advanced years and his
resery ed, formal demeanor in company,
Tom is merely an overgrown child and
has to he carefully watched by a male
nurse, specially hired for that purpose. He
has all the sel1shness of spoiled child
and is jealous of any attention paid to any
one else in his presence. He has little
natural affection and cares only for those
who minister directly To his wants He
Is willing that his mother should be taken
care of out OF the money he has earned,
but he does not wish To have her or his
brother and sisters near him, for fear that
they may annoy him or prevent his being
the sole object of the attentions of those
around him. With the exception of this
childlike selflshness Blind Tom is extreme
ly moral and religious in his habits and
disposition He never eats without first
offering prayer, and on Sundays will
play only church music on his piano. He
VIII have nothing To do with any one who
drinks liquor and will quickly order from
the room any person who uses profane or
improper language in his presence. He is
usually very polite but cannot abide
bore, and when IA member of the long
winded fraternity tries to make him
victim of his talk the big blind man
brings his tormentor up with IL round
turn by saying very abruptly well,
now, you have talked long enough. Good
byr'
IL was only after the conclusion of Mrs.
Lerche's long legal contest that mother
and son were together again for the first
time since Toms infancy, but after the
novelty of their reunion had worn away it
was evident that their tastes and temper
aments were so utterly at variance that
there was little likelihood of their living
happily together Fate had kept them
apart too long Tom 5 clouded mind could
not realize what his mother had suffered
during their long separation. Fourscore
years Of life had made her wthercd up,
irritable old woman, set I'm her ways and
not at all reconciled To the fact that she
found the baby for whom she had mourned
SO many years turned into prematurely
aged man, fixed I'm his habits and strange
ly lacking an tina natural affection hp