Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1903-09-10
HIS FIRST LOOK AT the WORLD.
Observation. "a Of . M.a who E.a Lives

observatiOns Of Maa who Had Lived
in IL 10 Years without eseing IL.
II 1t were possible for q person to be
born with all his faculties ready de-
veloped, the sensations Of that person
probably would not be unlike those Of
John Carruth, the thirty-year-old
gcctchman whe, having been Hind
from birth. has Just received his sight
as the result OF q remarkable operation
at the Glasgow ophthalmic Hospital.
Since he left the hospital, Carruth,
who Is the son OF a farmer OF Weir,
has been getting acquainted with the
appearance OF persons and things and,
as he Is an unusually Intelligent man.
many OF his comments thereupon have
been remarkably Interesting
!. It was largely through accident that
Carruth came to be operated upon. AS
he had been born blind. none OF his
acQuaintances ever had supposed that
he could be made to see. Neither did
Carruth himself, 30. even as q little
boy, he determined to get through life
as best he could without eyesight, and
the result was that he accomplished
things that seem almost Incredible.
For instance. he tended cattle. Of
whose appearance he had been able to
form some Idea by feeling Of them, He
grew flowers, picked them. and was
able to arrange them In bouquets that
1t would have been hard for an expert
In the grouping Of colors to have beat
en-. For year and half this blind
man drove the delivery cart Of the VIII
laxe grocer and distributed its con-
tents to the customers. Sometimes he
would have as many az thirty parcels
in his cart, but his wonderfully devel-
oped sense Of touch enabled him to
pick out every one and deliver It at the
right address.
Through the agency Of young ply
siclan Of his town Carruth was taken
to Glasgow to be operated upon. Elev-
en- days after the operation, he got
the first signal that sight was coming
to him, when he made out red rug
which lay over the foot Of his bed.
Then he was able to distinguish the
face Of his surgeon. He says that he
did not know what 1t was at first, but
that when the physician spoke, he re-
allied that be must be looking for the
first time on 4 human countenance.
/ A a. "a H.. hto nj
nized her as q woman. II knew she
was q woman" he says, because her
face was pale and smooth" Then he
asked to see his mother. who came. not
knowing that her sons sight had been
given to him, and sat down by his
bedside. Il had a peep at her side
ways" says Carruth. "and then asked
her how many wrinkles she had on
her forehead. You can seer she cried,
or how could you tellT Can you
count themr Well, l could not see
aye enough for that, but l could see
her dear face"
Since then Carruth has been feasting
his eyes on all sorts of wonderful
things. Everything strikes him as
beautiful" but he says his greatest
surprise was color. He had been told
that there was a difference between
things in this respect, but he could
form no idea of what was meant.
Green, especially. is his delight.
Strangely enough, he says that 1t is
only since he could see that he has
known what 1t was to feel tired. He
says, too, that whereas he used to ride
horse fearlessly. he now would be
afraid of being thrown. A small and
rather fimsy bridge over river which
he formerly crossed without tremor
now worries him considerably TO nego-
tiate.
Ships were surprise to Carruth: in
fact, he had been able to form nothing
more than a vague idea Of anything
that he could not feel with his hands.
OF women he says that he had no idea
they were "sae beautiful and bonny!'
He meets friend without having the
slightest Idea who he Is until he
speaks; then he says: "Oh, it's so-and-
sor' At first he went into roars Of
laughter over the sight of peoples jaws
moving as they ate. But he Is ambi-
tious, and says that he wants to study,
and to learn languages. Perhaps the
most significant remark that Carruth
has made, however. burst from him
when first he stood and looked over a
quiet Scotch country scene with green
fields In the foreground, backed by a
river and a range of hills against the
sunset.
There's bound to be creator for all
thisv he said.