Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-10-04

getting to make proper allowances at the
sides and ends for shrnkage in the
ticking by reason of stutfing. He places
and fastens the tufts and he strengthens
the sides by blind stitches He even has
boys with good eyes as apprentices
Nor does the clock repairer ask he n Of
any man. As with the mattress man and
the broommaker and the newsstand man,
he trusts entirely to his highly developed
sense OF touch There is a blind clock re-
pairer in the borough OF the Bronx in New
York who has everything his own way in
his neighborhood He can make clocks run
right that other repairers always fail with
1t is feel that guides the blind womer
in their tasks also. If they are washin.
clothing they feel to see IL the spots of dirt
which n sighted person. shutting his
eyes. could not detect by touch in thou
sand years. have been removed by the soap
and water. They never burn clothing while
ironing; they know through their hands
just the amount of contact the iron should
have with the article being pressed. When
sewing with a machine their fingers serve
them as eyes. and they make stitches
straight as the most exacting could de
mand. AS mattresses they gather the
oers IN the kitchen by feel and properly
arrange the dishes around the diners plate
by the same swift and accurate method.
And in making the finest and most intricate
iaces their only guide is touch.
In truth. the blind person in business has
as one of them said recently. ten eyes
which are at our fingers ends" while see
ing persons have only two.
Wages Are Small.
Despite the fact that the blind who work
are exceedingly Industrious and often as
expert in the various trades as sighted men,
they do not make much money. Human
sympathy is deep until the pocket book is
touched The blind man gets sympathy
when he is not trying to sell mattress or
broom. Let him try to sell something
Because he is blind the customer will ex
pect price lower than he obtains elsewhere
and haggle until he gets it, This statement
Is universally made by the blind shop
keepers
For this reason he is a lucky blind shop
Keeper who when the week Is ended finds
that he has cleared 81 or So over and above
expenses.
The most highly paid among the bind
are the piano tuners and the musicians
These men. who call their highly sensitive
ears to the aid Of their skillful fingers make
all the way from $40 to $50 month The
larger figure represents money largely earn
ed by means Of piano and violin classes
The piano tuners almost invariably conduct
several classes
The broom and brush maker receives the
lowest returns for his labor FreuuentIy no
makes not more than 81 a week His aver
age is 81. Time was when the small broom
maker could earn so a week. Now the big
factories have up-to-date machinery which
the blind man. working alone. cannot af-
FORD. and so he Is slowly being driven out
Of business. Gradually he is drifting into
paper selling or mattress making.
The Blind as Pensioners
New York is the only city in this country
that encourages it's blind to be self-support-
ing. To every sightless man and woman
who earns a living the city each year makes
gift of $40 in gold. This money is used
generally to clear off any Indebtedness that
blind person may have incurred and this
gives him a clear start on a new fiscal
year.
This custom has held in the metropolis
for over fifty years. The man who decides
on the blind who are entitled to secure an
nuities is S. Jerome Bettman He is known
Dy every blind person on the Island of Man
haitian. For eighteen years he has been in
vestigating Their cases and invariably win
ming their esteem. 1t is he who every year
distributes the annuities.
But New York. despite this pension svs-
tenn and care Of the blind when they fall
Ill. has found that no inducement can get
the men and women. stricken blind in their
majority. interested in industrial pursuits.
This is the experience elsewhere.
W lille these persons realize their depen-
dent position and know that. unless they
have relatives who will support them. their
inevitable end is the almshouse. they seem
to be unable to cultivate the senses Of
| touch and sound to the point where they
can be put to commercial profit. Many try.
but after a few months give 1t up in de-
spatr and request to be taken to the aims
house.
1t takes years of training in an institution
for the blind to fit the inmates for bread
winners in the trades that require expert
of the of touch and hearing.
Nowadays no attempt is made to teach the
boys and girls any other calings. for long
experience has shown that time thus spent
thu own away. The blind themselves
recognize that they are of no monetary
value in an occupation where sight is alb
solutely necessary. but in the other trades
we can hold up our end with the best of
sighted men. they say. And they can. \
good blind mattress maker turns ont as
many mattresses in a day as an expert
mattress maker in full possession of all his
senses.