Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1903-09-15
Als FIRST LOOK AT THE WORLD.

HIS FIRST LOOK AT THE WORLD.
0bservations Of Man Who Had Lived
In 1t 30 Years Without Seeing It.
II It were possible for person to be
born with all his faculties ready de-
veloped, the sensations of that person
probably would not be unlike those OF
John y Carruth, the thirty-year-old
Scotchman who, having been blind
from birth. has just received his sight
as the result of:a remarkable operation
at the Glasgow Ophthalmic Hospital
Since he left the hospital. Carrnth,
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, SO. even as 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
it 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 vii
lage grocer and distributed it's con-
tents to. the customers. Sometimes he
would have as many as thirty parcels
In his cart, but his wonderfully devel.
oped sense Of touch enabled him to
pick out every one, and deliver 1t at the
right address.
Through the agency of young ply.
sician 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 a 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
alized that he must be looking for the
first time on a human countenance
Afterward he saw his nurse and recog
Rized her as a woman. 81 knew she
was woman" he says, because hel
face was pale and smooth" Then ht
asked to see his mother, who came, no
knowing that her sons sight had beer
given to him, and sat down by. his
bedside. ST had a peep at her side
ways" says Carruth, land then aske6
her how many wrinkles she had OF
her forehead. You can see? she cried
or how could you tell p Can yoi
count themY Well, / could not SCI
aye enough for that, but could SCI
her dear face" =
Since then Carruth has been feastint
his eyes on all sorts of; wonderful
things Everything strikes him a!
tebeautifu1," but he says his creates
surprise was color. He had been tolt
that there was difference betweel
/ things In this respect, but he coult
form no idea Of what was meant
Green, especially, is his. delight
F Strangely enough, he. says that it Il
| only since he could see that he" ha
known what it was to feel tired. H
says, too, that whereas he used to rid
a horse fearlessly, he now would b.
afraid Of being thrown. A small ant
rather fimsy bridge oyer.a river whicl
he formerly crossed without tremo
now worries him considerably to nego
tiate.
Ships were surprise to- Carruth; II
fact, he had been able to form nothini
more than a vague idea Of anything
that he could not.sfeel with hfs.hands
OF women he says that2he had no ide'
they were "sae beautiful and bonny!
He meets a friend without having tn
slightest idea who he Is. untik b
Fspeaks; then he says: ."Oh, It's so-and
SOP At first he went into roarss o
laughter over the sight OF peoples Jaw
moving as they ate. But he Is anbl
tious, and says that he wants to study
and to. learn languages. !: Perhaps tn
most significant remark that Carrut
has made, however, burst from hil
when first he stood and looked over
quiet Scotch country scene with gree
fields In the foreground, backed by
river and a range ofehi1ls against tn
| sunset.
There's bound to be creator for a
/ -
thisw he said.