The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-09-01

,cf-J0urnal
Tidings Of the death Of "Blind
Tom' at Hobokcn. "wlcrc he had
been living in rctircmcnt,' the wires
tell us, "and subsisting on charity.'
reach at least one heart that loved
and pitied him. and summon from
the land OF shades and dreams many
a ghost Of days and dear ones long
departed. I must be his oldest living
friend. 1t is not true. us 7 have
sometimes seen it stated, that I taught
him what little he knew of music:
but | was at the outset of his strange
career and am familiar with all its
beginnings.
first heard nf him through Ro-
bert llcllcr-William IIrn:.' Palmer
best known in his day rs Il pnpu-
lar magician. but Il most accomplish
ed pianist. II was at Washington
and in the autumn of 1860. Palmer
had just come up with "Blind Tom )"
in Louisville, think. and had been
ed by his extraordinary charactcris-
tics. His crude. often grntcsnuc. at
temptS to initiate whatever fell upon
his ear. either vocallv. or on the KEY
board. were startling. fIc mad heard
Judge Douglas speak and graphically
reproduced few sentences. He had
heard a reigning prima donna sing
and repeated her soprano in Il few
bars. The Bcthunc girls, daughters
Of Gen. Bcthunc of Columbus, Ga.
his old master. had taught him few
lin"lcs. which he ratified off upon the
piano. lie knew nothing very compli-
Gated, or very well. But he was blind
and clearly an idiot; in short, he was
a prodigy.
Palmer gave him several "IeSsonS''
that j.. nc played over and over frr
him such pieces rs 'rhalbcrg 5 "lTomc,
Sweet Home, McndclSSohn :
"Sprin% Song and thc salient pas
soGcS ont of some of Lit : tram
srrirtinn>. Excepting few additions
al "lcssonS' of this kind had later
al"n" from Eugene Baylor, who
taught him his famous "Margrave
DanSc,' - Tom made little further pro-
"rcSs and learned nothing new.
He would spin about The piano.
like Il baboon. mumbln" to himself
whilst Palmer, or Baylor played. and,
if they stopped. he would rush head
Ion" to the instrument and try to fol-
low after them precisely as they had
phrascd. Two. or three. Of such "lcs-
sons sufficcd, and though he learned
nothing accurately, nor played with
any other expression than they had
rendered. what he did was surprising.
even to those who knew the process
and the limitation.
There was in the Tennessee line
certain Maj. Macconico, who had a
great baritone voice. He taught
Tom to sing Crooked in the Cradle
Of The Deep very much as he sang
it. There was tailor in Griffin, Ga,
by the name Of Hanlon, whose tenor
voice was fetching. and he taught
Tom two or three love dittics. which
Tom repeated in rich though rather
cultural tones, yet in undoubtcd ten
or IT was something more than a
phenomenon Of memory. Though blind,
he could handle the key board readily,
whilst his vocal limitations from bass
to treble, from deep baritone to mczzo
soprano. were sufficiently accurate
and indNidualizcd to be recognized
Tom seemed woman-hater.
Whether it was pure misogyny, or a
kind Of shyness manifesting itself
boorishly, I know not. 7 we'll rcmem-
Der in Atlanta, where party Of us
had him with lis off and on for two
or three months, n young lady one day
sat down at the piano and began to
play. Tom was at the dark end Of
the chamber, spinning upon hands
and heels. and mumblin" to himself
Hc caught the sound Of The instru-
mcnt. Tie stood for moment still
and upright. Then, like a wild ami
NAL, he made dash and swooped