The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-10-25
eLlNo MANS STRANGE POWER


rs there a sixth 8enaef ihc ullnd
piano tuner. Dean s. Gray surely pos.
aosses one When passing a highs
board fence be can. without touching
Il, mysteriously feel IT'S presence. Any
thing which % on a level with his
head Is recognized In the same way.
II might" he says stumble over a
post, but wouldn't run into large
tree or a brick wall. unless walking
rapidly"
His physician states that this
strange sense Of feeling" comes from
the nerves in the face. for his sight
is destroyed absolutely.
One evening in Milwaukee avenue
house In the process Of being moved
was standing I'm the middle Of the
street Mr. Gray passed along the
sidewalk where there was nothing to
indicate the presence Of the house. Af-
ter arriving at his destination he
asked: What's that thing back there
in the street? It ought not to be
there"
He has the power of impressing this
mysterious feeling upon others. A
/ short time ago he was seated in the
centre of a Third street car. A lady
/ got on and sat at the end OF the seat.
/ Mr. Gray made no movement, but
those watching instantly realized that
he knew exactly what had happened.
| When he rose to leave the car he
passed her more deity than does the
ordinary man wilA two perfect eyes.
j AS Mr.. Gray was walking down
! Michigan avenue recently to the Jour-
nal Office to have his first photograph
taken, his escort turned from Michi-
gan at Cass avenue instead Of walk
ing on to Wayne Quickly he asked,
why do you turn here? Michigan
and Fort are nearer together through
Wayne street than through Cass."
A few steps further he said Here
is the restaurant where we had din
ner."
At Howard street he was asked:
What street is this?" He replied:
zone end of Howard"
Thus he knows every street in the
city, and street numbers, too. At the
front steps of the Journal building he
swung his cane forward to measure
the first step, and after that proceeded
up the rest just as any one else would.
His sister said that when they were
going anywhere together she let him
lead the way though she sees perfect1
ly, for he knows the quickest routes.
Many street cars he recognizes by
their gongs.
THE new Woodward avenue and
the Jefferson and Third avenue cars
have rather heavy gongs," he said.
"Also the Detroit railway cars. But
now they are mixing them up, and it
is harder to know when the right one
comes"
Many conductors assert that M.
Gray can tell the streets of the dity
, by his sense Of feeling" But ASIA
matter of fact, the city map is in his
mind, and he knows when he passes
the last intersection of car lines be-
fore his destined street. Then so
closely does he calculate short dis
tances run by the car that he can
i
own street Likewise when walking,
he knows when it Is time to turn z
: corner.
Notning escapes his ears, and he
can go home and repeat the entire
conversation OF those sitting near
7 him, especially on politics. Mr.. Gray
$ denied the story that he can tell the
! denomination Of bills. Coins are easy
t but no blind person in the United
7 States can tell the denomination of a
bill, he says.
= Mr.. Gray is a busy man, for his af
< Fiction has given his ear peculiar
4 aptness in his business of piano tun
v ing. All alone he travels over The
a city, and even to Windsor. The cal
p lines are the points in his compass.
which keep him informed Of his posi-
? ton. His watch has no crystal, ant
he reads time from it with perfec
ease with his fingers.
r He is an expert chess player.
+ Mr.. Gray was graduated from tn
f tuning department of the Michigan
q school for the blind at Lansing
= While there he received an excelle
n education and converses fuently
all popular questions. His resident
Is at No. POI Harper avenue east.
Those who meet him for the frs
!, time bow mechanically and try t
make the points of their conversation
] more clear to him by means Of geg
lures. He became completely bin
= from cataract before he was five year
Ill I,1s,