The Hocking sentinel. [volume] (Logan, Ohio) 1871-1906, 1903-09-03
HIS FIRST LOOK AT THE WORLD.
observations of Man Who Had Lived
in 1t 20 Years without Seeing 1t.

If it We're possible for n 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
Scotchman who. having been blind
from birth, has just received his sight
as the result of remarkable operation
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.
1t 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 4 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 tc
form some idea by feeling of them. He
grew flowers. picked them, and was
able to arrange them in bouquets thai
it would have been hard for an expert
in the grouping of cOlors to have beat
en-. For Il year and half this blinG
man drove the delivery cart of the vii
lage grocer and distributed its 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 tc
pick out every one and deliver 1t at the
right address.
Through the agency of a young ply
sician of his town Carruth was taker
to Glasgow to be operated upon. Elev
en- days after the operation, he goi
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 it was at first, bui
that when the physician spoke. he re
allied that he must be looking for the
Afterward he saw his nurse and recog
nized her as woman. Il knew she
was a woman" he says, because hel
face was pale and smooth" Then ht
asked to see his mother, who came, moi
knowing that her sons sight had beer
given to him, and sat down by his
bedside II had a peep at her side
ways" says Carruth, land then asked
her how many wrinkles she had OF
her forehead. You can seer she cried
or how could you tell? Can yor
count them? Well, l could not sec
aye enough for that, but 1 could set
her dear face"
Since then Carruth has been feastins
things Everything strikes him az
beautiful" but he says his creates.
surprise was color. He had been tOlC
that there was a difference between
things in this respect, but he cOulC
form no idea of what was meant
Green, especially, is his delight
Strangely enough. he says that it is
only since he could see that he has
known what it 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 anG
rather fiimsy bridge over river which
he formerly crossed without tremol
now worries him considerably to nego
tiate.
Ships were 4 surprise to Carruth; IL
fact. he had been able to form nothing
more than vague idea of anything
that he could not feel with his hands
OF women he says that he had no idea
they We're "sae beautiful and bOnny.
He meets a friend without having the
slightest idea who he Is until he
speaks; then he says: "Oh, it's sO-and
sOt' 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 o
quiet Scotch country scene with green
fields in the foreground, backed by o
river and range Of hills against the
sunset.
There's bound to be creator for al
thisr' he said.
Wanted to See Grandma.