Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-03
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LT LESSED is he" writes Carlyle,
~ who has found his work Let
him ask no other blessedness.
O He has life purpose; labor is
life While this gospel of
strcnuousncss is applicable to all men, it
is particularly significant to those who
have lost their sight, and who have felt the
hopeless depression. the benumbing lack of
self-confidence which assails when the
skill the technique. or mere manual dex-
tcrity which was theirs with light. is found
to have evapOrated in the darkness.
From the New York Association for the
Blind comes story of a woman who for
fourteen years received no instruction to
make her blindness bearable. Finally a
member Of the association. herself blind.
found the sufferer and promised that work
should he obtained. and that it should be
made possible for her to read again, and
take an active part in the life of the conf
munity. The blind woman burst into tears.
and. throwing herself into the arms of the
visitor, cried out:
II have waited for you for fourteen
years"
Few people have any conception of the
real potentialities of the sightless. There is
on the one hand an order of mind It once
mystic ana sentimental that regards the
bllnd as SEtFS- lneN are cOnS!ueItu u De
beings with more than occult prescience OF
things. and therefore more than merely
human. and endowed with such rare quail
ties that only the noblest, Hottest most in
telleCtual and spiritual work should be ex-
pected of them. Curiously enough. the
other hand. the attitude of the sordid econ
omist is that there is no sense in endeavor-
ing TO train the blind to industrial COM
petition with the sighted. it must always
prove a failure. Midway between these
there is a growing body of typhlophiles. or
friends of the blind. that has come to re-
gard them as real human beings, with all
the infinite variety of personal individuality.
capacity and aspiration, and who believe
that society has special duties to these I'M
fortunates in re-establishing them in active
citizenship.
1t is Interesting TO learn what Europe has
done for its blind.
Last October the Valentin Hauy Magazine
OF Paris stated
mo one today will any longer question
that the blind man is capable of carrying
On profession and of gaining honorably
through WORK. a livelihood. The number
OF professions which open to him is
of necessity, limited; nevertheless. under
the activity Of generous initiative and per-
sOnal effort, the field is enlarging each
day.
Blind Val.at.a Hauy was the founder
of the National Institution for the Blind in
fdllS IN 1854. Where Doth sexes are given a
training 10 III them far as possible
physically. mentally and morally. to en-
counter the world. Manual training for all
pupils and household arts for the girs are
considered Of the greatest Importance. In
1919 an employment bureau was started in
connection with the school. All blind peo-
pie may subscribe to this bureau to obtain
its aid. Since 1873 30 blind pupils of the
institution have become tuners. makers or
statesmen Of pianos. In Paris alone the
school has eight graduates as organsts
and as many as fifty-six in other churches
and cathedrals
The work of the Valentn Hauy Associa-
ton is revelation to the weak -hearted
Besides the technical course of the Ma
tional Institute. which covers five years, or
Tor music pupils. eight years, a workshop
Is maintained. Here men from eighteen to
forty. and even after that age. If in good
heath, are taught brush making of various
xmas. Women and girls in like manner
are taught by the Blind Sisters of st. Paul
III laundry work. needlework and general
sowing. central Office is operated where
the work is sold 1t is curious collection