Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-08-22
BLIND WHEN SUN SETS
AFFECTION OF LUH-
BERlGEN OF THE FAR NORTH.


LAehine Cor. New York SUM-
Night blindness is an aiiment prevalent
among lumbermen who work In shanties re-
mote enough to make vegetables an un-
usual luxury. In most instances the per
sons affected have the normal use Of their
eyesight from sunrise to sunset but are
stone blind when the sun is below the hori-
zon.
Sometimes the trouble comes on slowly.
beginning with a dimness Of vision at morn
ing and evening. and increasing until 1t -
impossible for the patient to stir outside
except when the sun Is high At other
times. and especially in the bright days OF
March. when the glare of the sun upon the
snow Is trying to all eyes. night blindness
sets In suddenly
There was a curious case OF this sudden
coming on OF the blindness in the Ottawa
lumber district. near Beaver lake. Four
men had been detailed to mark the logs
laid upon the ice and they had worked
three or four days in the glaring light OF
the March sun reflected from the clear lake
surface with no particularly bad results:
TWO or them we're sufferers from night
blindness and had to be led home at night
by their comrades. and as their shanty was
four miles away from the lake It was their
custom to start back little before sun
down.
One day they had about finished the job
and worked rather late to complete it. To
their dismay they found when they stopped
work and slipped their coats that all
four were completely blind.
The night was terribly cold. and there
was more than half gale Of north wind
blowing across the lake. To attempt to
grope their way home would be to risk their
lives. Happily one of the men remembered
that one of the great tmbers used as skid
way was stick Of white birch. the canoe
tree of the Indians
Cautiously they felt their way to this log
and contrived to tear away a section OF the
paper-like bark. Hastily rolling this up
i IN Q. what would answer for a torch. they
ut 1t with match and derived light enough
for three of the four to be able to distin-
guish their surroundings
The birch pole was at once completely
stripped OF its bark. and while at this work
they decided that it would be almost mad
ness to try to reach their own shanty that
night. along the narrow pathway their foot
steps had made in the deep snow. Right
across an arm of the like on projecting
point was a deserted shanty, and thither
they determined to go.
The journey was difficult as even with
the flaming bark to guide them the poor
fellows found it difficult to steer a straight
course. 1t was probably near midnight
when they pushed open the rude wooden
hinged door and entered the shanty
A fire was quickly started in the caboose
with some of the poles taken from the bot
tom OF one of the shelf-like sleeping hunks,
st1li in position all around the walls. After
time their sense of seeing came back to
them as they sat about the bright fire. and
they could look about their new home with
tolerable clearness AS their vision cleared
they made out the figure OF a man seated
at the clerks desk in the corner with q
fine hound at his feet.
A little investigation showed that both
man and dog were stone dead and frozen to
stiffness. 1t was evident that the shanty
had been the home of the dead pair for
considerable tire.
The greater part of a fine deer hung in
the cooks lean-to. which was entered by
a door from the rear of the shanty. No
trace of flour or other provisions was to be
seen.
The visitors had been prodigal in their
use of matches and now discovered that
they had used the last of their supply. Their
keenest search of the clothing and stores Of
the dead man failed to discover a single
one, and. though they found fine rife in
good order in the bunk wherein the bed
had been made. not 'single cartridge
wherewith a flame might be obtained could
be found They at once piled all available
fuel near their fire and determined to
watch beside 1t all night
The dead man was dressed in city clothes,
some brown checked material, well made
and he had good gold watch. On the table
were OLD newspapers Of six or eight months
ago. all from the United States. A lead
pencil lay near the hand Of the dead man.
and a bit of white birch bark. on which
was written over and over again: Blind"
"Blind!"
Naturally enough. the four men did not
care to make a very close search for means
of identification. They concluded that the
man was a stranger in the woods and an
American. It is their opinion that the
man was afflicted with night blindness
while in the shanty. and became afraid to
go far away from it for fear Of being over
taken by evening and becoming unable to
find his way back again. His matches were
used up. and his rife cartridges having dis
appeared 1t was impossible for him to make
a fire to keep himself warm or to cook his
meat. With the thermometer from Ii to 30
below zero 1t would not be long before the
frost would claim both him and his faithful
hound as victims when without fire Or pro-
visions.
When morning came the shantymen made
a breakfast of the veniSon in the lean-tO
and then started for their own shanty to
tell their story to their fellows. The fore
man and couple of others at once set out
with one of the four to bury the dead man
in the shanty. but arrived at the lakeside
made toal destruction Of it and its con-
tents.
Probably 1t will never be known who the
unfortunate man was whose body was dis
covered that night by the temporarily
blinded men. Somehow the impression has
declared itself among the lumberers that he
was a fugitive from justice who tried to
hide himself in the woods. A hunter would
have had guide with him. Had he been
used to the woods. he would have known
how to keep up his fire and would have had
proper supplies.