The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-23
FUN FOR BLIND.
Fond Of Athletics, but Great
at Whist and Other Games.

at w hist and Other Games.
| (From the London Evening Standard)
There is a general idea prevalent in the
minds of the uninitiated that blind people
cannot get very much enjoyment out OF
their lives, because, not being able to see
what they are about, they are unable to
indulge freely in games of either the ath-
lletic or intellectual variety In order to
get a proper idea Of how sightless people
can amuse themselves, that individual
who thinks that the blind have no scope
/ for enjoyment must pay visit to one OF
the institutions for the blind Here he
will see for himself that the inmates, far
! from being limited in their games can
and do. play almost as many as those OF
/ their brethren who are blessed with Wis
ion, and that, in fact, it would be far
easier to name the few amusements that
I they cannot indulge in than to enumerate
! those which they can Thus, for in
stance, blind boys can play foot ball. and
/ they play it fairly well. Cycling, too, is
very popular among those who are for
1 tunate enough to possess machines. Some
/ time back twenty or thirty blind cyclists
most Of them inmates OF the local blind
| institution, assembled outside the Swiss
| cottage, and went for a run to Hatfield
| and back. OF course, they were led by a
man who could see, 50 that in case OF
| tionary vehicles, they should have proper
warning; but had it not been for the
/ fact that these warnings were given by
word of mouth nobody who saw the cy-
/ clists covering the ground at a speed of
| quite twelve miles per hour, could posi-
| bly, have guessed that they were abso-
Ilutely blind.
One would not think that leap-frog was
q game that was suitable for blind boys
| for it is one which seems to absolutely
need the sense, of sight for judging the
! az k4sa IL Il III
game, and the only article in which it diff
| fers from that played by other boys is
! that instead of a challSed line to jump
from, they have stick which they can
| feel with their feet When the winter is
here if the frost is hard enough, they
| will skate, and sightless people can fire.
| quentiy do this quite as well as those who
can use their eyes. Indeed, there was
some time ago an athletic meeting OF
blind people held in which the first and
second prizes for skating were taken by
! Two bIlnd ladies. snow-ballins, too, will
/ pc played by the boys as soon as there is
some snow fit to play with, and, although
they are not able to see, they can throw
with wonderful accuracy.
| Of indoor amusements there is RIO lack
| of variety. Blind boys can box, and that
scientifically, though how they manage,
| without sight, to guard blow as they do
lis mystery known only to themselves.
In other branches of gymnastics they are
| also expert, especially at parallel and hor-
lIzontal bar work. We have seen a blind
DOy balance nlnlSelI at arms length on
the parallel bars, and hold the balance as
| long as he pleased. Now. to any one who
! is anything of a gymnast this feat is a
| tolerably easy one; but it depends not SO
much upon strength as upon sight. Let
any one who doubts this try to hold what
| in gymnastic parlance is called a long
arm balance with his eyes shut, and he
will find that directly he cannot see the
| floor he beginssto lose his balance To do
| this feat, therefore, without being able to
see IS really a marvellous performance.
Chess and its sister game, draughts are
played a great deal; so are dominoes; but
this is hardly so wonderful when it is
remembered that several frSt-claSs chess
players, blackburn, for instance, can play
! chess blindfolded. The boards used are
of special kind, the black squares being
raised and the white sunken, while there
is a slight difference IN shape between the
| black and white pieces These latter have
likewise little projections on their bases,
winch fit into corresponding holes in the
square, this being done to prevent the
Encouragement of the board from a
chance knock
| Girls even those who can see. have not
on account of the present system of their
education, so much scope for amusement
! as boys, and it is the same with blind
girls. Still, they can play many different
games, and appear to enjoy themselves
quite as much as their seeing sisters To
See them in the summer playing at itouch
last, or some game of similar nature
one would think that blindness was un-
Known to them, and they can form with
| q piece Oh StIin$ some most wonderfully
intricate patterns at the game called
eats cradle. In addition to this they
can amuse themselves by sewing and
knitting and can turn out some really
artistic fancy work which would take a
great deal of lettering on the part of see
ing ladleS. Then they can swing and use
| a Skipping rope, either double or single
one with an amount of freedom which is
not TO be eXcelled, and can run WELL and
even play at ball. Chess and Craughts Of
course. they play, though the former is
not so popular among them as it is
among the boys. and they read, spin tops.
/ play on the violin and organ. and even
dance BESIDES this, many blind girls, as
well as boys, are good swimukS~S; but
naturally this form of athletics can only
be INDUCED in during the summer months
| or the amusements of grown-up blind
people They can ride, on horseback as
well as on bicycles, of course, and swim
ana row, and we have personally known
Two blind men who were much better
scullers than the average amateur oars
man. Putting the weights is another form
i of athletic amusement INDUCED in by
can also be undertaken by them and. in
TACT II they wish, they indulge in every
form of amusement that is INDUCED in by
their younger fellow-sufferers. In school
cards would not of course, be allowed
put we nave heard of a blind mamie is
deaq noW-who was fine whist player
! lie had cards made with embossed pipes.
so mat ne could identify them by touch.
ana the other three players called their
cards as they put them down on the ia
| pie. In this way he was enabled to play
mis- hand, and he played it in mastery
manner that would have been the iov Of
lCaYendish or Hoyle had they been there