Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1897-10-23
KENTUCKY'S BLIND HUNTER.

KENTUCKY'S BLIND HUNTER.
Feats of a Man Who Has Been sightless
Twenty Years.
Chicago Tlmes-Herald.
A dispatch from Nicholasville, KY,
contains the following remarkable
story:
Tom Johnson, who has been blind
in both eyes for 20 years, has been the
talk of the county for the past 10 days.
Johnson is a fox hunter. He keeps a
pack of hounds. Mag, one of his ia
vorite dogs, went mad. Johnson's
wife and children and neighbor, Joe
Harvey Brum6eld, were out in the
yard, when Mag came running through
the orchard foaming at the mouth and
swapping right and left. 1t was gen.
uine case of hydrophobia.
The people in the yard frantically
rushed into the house, locked the doors
and told johnson of the condition of
his favorite dog. In the meantime
Mag had dashed by the house and
started off in the direction of neigh
boris. When Johnson was told of the
dogs hydrophobia he arose, and, de-
spite the efforts of his family and Mr..
Brumfeld, walked into the yard. Di-
rectly Mag came back, and seemed to
be in q more violent state Of madness
than before. Those in the house called
to Johnson that the dog was coming,
and piteously begged him to return.
The old blind man needed not the ap-
peals of his family; but stood like
statute, listening to the snarling OF the
dog. Mag spied him and came straight
to him.
"There she comes," yelled Brum-
field, from inside the house. Still the
old man stood his ground. Within 10
feet of him Mag stopped, then slowly
approached him, still swapping and
snarling. Right to the blind mans
feet came the dog, and as she was
about to seize his leg, he reached down
and, with an instict which seemed
superhuman, grasped her about the
neck in a vise-like grip.
The dog struggled in vain to free
herself, but Mr.. Johnson started to-
ward the woodshed, dragging her.
Brumfeld came and opened the door
of the shed, and Johnson approached
and hurled the dog inside. Brumfeld
quickly closed the door, and Mag was
left to her rawlings till shotgun was
procured and she was killed.
This feat of Mr.. Johnson's is only
one of many in his remarkable career.
He is SO years old, and the story of
his deeds sounds more like fiction than
fact. Twenty years ago he was man
of affluence; but he lost his eyesight,
and, having large family, his fortune
dwindled until today he has only a
house and a few acres of land. All
his life he has been passionately fond
of fox hunting and has always kept
fine pack of dogs. When he went
blind it was thought his hunting days
were over but such was not the case.
He became even more devoted to the
sport. Strange as it may seem, he has
never required guide to aid him in
riding over the cliffs of the Kentucky
river in his chases. Mounted on his
old blind mule, this blind man may be
seen one or two nights every week,
riding along a dark and narrow path
of a rugged cliff, while his dogs are
searching for the trail of fox. After
the trail is found he stops, and all
night long listens to the baying of the
dogs as they follow the trail, moving
only when reynard leads the dogs to
more distant parts.
Typical fox hunter that he is, he
knows the "mouth" of his every dog.
Did a stranger meet him On dark
night, he would never know the man
was blind. Many are the tenderfeet
he has led on these night hunts. His
ability to find his way on these chases
is accounted for by him in that he is
perfectly familiar with the scope of the
country over which he hunts, but when
it is remembered that this scope ex-
tends for many miles along the rugged
cliffs of the Kentucky river, and that
he rides mule as blind as himself, it
can be considered no less remarkable.