New-York tribune., 1908-01-08

Ben Hur' and a few Juveniles
Nearly all of the books for the blind are in more
than volume. and are many times the size or
an ordinary book. Nicholas Nickleby' is in seven
volumes Pilgrims Progress is in five. "Ivanhoe'
in eight. and so on
COSTS $500 TO PUBLISH BOOK
1t costs about $500 to publish book for the blind.
and this necessarily makes a nbrary's growth slow.
The New York library founded thirteen years
ago by Richard Randall Ferry. himself blind. and
a few others 1t started with sixty volumes
the shelves 1t has now more than three thousand
and about one thousand volumes or separate pieces
of music Music is the thing which seems easiest
for the blind to learn. and they encouraged to
study it The notes are embossed. as are the let
ters In book, and the music for each hand is read
and nlemorized separately and then put together.
Both the books on music and the pieces of music
have large circulation.
MANY requests have been made at the library for
college textbooks, but few. If any, have been
printed. Last year blind man. who has degree
from a German university, interested himself in
this subject, and went personally TO Governor
Hughes if anything could be done in the
way of a state appropriation The result was that
the Governor caused the of $500 year to be
given to each blind college student of the state
who needed 1t to enable him TO hire tutor TO read
to him from the regular text books. Two blind
students of Columbia University patrons Of the
library One of the most tireless readers there Is
Grounds. He devours everything that comes in
the New York Point, and has read nearly every
book in the library in that type.
BLIND LIKE CHEERFUL. BOOKS
The blind do not choose. as rule. serious books.
neither do they care much for books about the
blind or other unfortuuates. Helen Kellers books.
for instance are not nearly popular Mrs
Wigs" One said he sat up half the night
reading Mr.. Dooley." All of the humorous books
are especially popular. Romantic literature is in
demand, and ghost and detective stories among
the favortes
Books manual training and in great
demand. The library has only two books on knit
ting One is How TO Knit and Crochet" by Mrs.
Pierson, a blind woman. who is mistress of hand-
craft in the School for ,he Blind Batavia. N Y.
There is a cook book in American Braile. and
How to Make Baskets by Mary White. also in
American Braille, has been copied by the kleido
graph into New York Point. This little machine
works on the principle of a typewriter. and by its
use many books in the library have been dupli-
Gated. This is work which any do. and is
real missionary work.
Ordinary playing cards marked by this
chine with New York Point characters. and
circulated in the same manner the books
With them many long hour can be whiled away
with solitaire. This library also provides a
teacher without charge adult blind residents OF
the CITY So that those who have had in
struction In an institution who have become
blind too late in life 10 be admitted may still learn
TO read The blind make the best teachers Of the
blind There are about two thousand four hundred
blind persons in New York City. and of this
Der more than six hundred are members OF the
library.