Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1900-10-07
ALL HIS HOPE OF SEEING
GIVEN UP BY Mr.. R0USS.
THAT HUMAN AID is
UNVAILING.
HIS OFFER OF A MILLION
TO THE NAN WHO SHOULD RE-
STORE SIGHT, FINALLY WITH
DRAWN.

NEW YORK, October 6.-Charles
Broadway Rouss, philanthropist and
merchant prince, has abandoned all
hope of recovering his lost eyesight, an
nounced the withdrawal of his offer OF
81, 0O0,O0 for cure and dispensed with
his substitute. He said: All tests
have proven failures, not one giving me
the slightest relief, and the same has
been the result of experiments on the
eyes of James j. Marshall, my paid
substitute
Paralysis of the optic nerve, with
which malady Mr. RousS had been at
Fiction for five years, is dread ailment
no oculist has fathomed. The patience
OF Mr. Rouss equaled that of Job, but
in a sense it has now reached an end.
In the absence of Augustine j. Smith,
confidential secretary of Mr.. Rouss, who
is on vacation, thc burden OF the care
of the blind millionaire has fallen on
his son, Peter Winchester Rouss. Their
1 esks are side by side. The elder
Rouss was in conference with stenog
rapher, clearing away the days mail,
for blindness has not kept him from his
work, when asked concerning the re-
ported withdrawal of his offer for a
cure
No Man Can Cure Him
Il know that no man can cure me, F"
Mr.. Rouss said, slowly raising his left
hand to his sightless eyes. Three
7 10 an do0idtnn
l have abandoned every thought of a
cure in this world, and as for the world
to come l do not know. What would |
not give to gaze on the blue skies, in
spect the faces of those l love and see
the beautiful sights of this great city.
But | am resigned. l am content to
await the end.
NO time have l now for the healers.
1t Is not worth while for me to bother
with them further. 1t has been six
weeks since | submitted to a test, and
it was the last | shall ever undergo.
The Almighty Father intends that
shall remain blind, and l am resigned
to the omnipotent will"
will not the man in your employ,
who suffers with similar ailment of
the eyes, continue to receive the atten-
ton of oculists?" was asked
AT his own risk" answered Mr.
Rouss. All experiments have failed in
his case, as well as in mine. At first |
paid him SIS per week for his services,
then SIS and now SO, and l have decided
to suspend that He called on me a
week ago, and so far as he is concerned
the terms of our contract, verbal, to
be sure, have expired"
VIII Turn His Mind Elsewhere
Gould nothing induce you to under
go one more test?"
NO; | have abandoned hope, and
shall turn my mind into other chan
nels. For long time l took medicine,
but gave it up. | never underwent an
operation, for it was not a malady that
surgery could cure. Over 200 special
lists have had their try on me, and half
that number treated Martin, without a
particle of relief to either of us, and |
will talk with no more of them. The
offer Of prize is closed, and no amount
of persuasion shall shake my determ-
nation"
Mr.. Rouss is in no wise disfgured.
While speaking, his sightless eyes re-
main wide open, and, save for a lack
OF lustre, appear natural. His hair is
snow white. Those near to the mer-
chant say that he is falling rapidly.
Notwithstanding this, Mr.. Rouss con-
tinues at the head of his big business
and finds time TO subscribe to hundreds
of worthy charities, his last philan-
hropic gift being a check of $1,000 for
the sufferers in the recent Galveston
hurricane.
Reached New York With 81.
Mr.. Rouss is native of Frederick
county, Md, 81 years old. After serv-
ing CALAMITY with the Confederate
army he reached New York with 81 in
his pocket In a few years he stood
at the head of a business that made
those who logged along in the old COM
mercial ruts view him with open-eyed
wonder. His first years were ire
mendous, neverending struggle. His
energy was marvellous. 1t was he who
originated the small business phrase,
Quick sales and small profits Under
the heavy strain Mr.. Rouss' eyesight
began to fail in 1892. and within three
years he had lost it entirely.
For a self-made man to be thus sud-
denly deprived of vision and shut OF
from the world when about to reap the
reward of his energy was more than a
man of Mr.. Rouss' stern calibre could
accept He determined to regain the
lost paradise. Hence the widely-adver-
tised offer of 81 100000 for cure
En.