The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1908-02-28
Blind Tom. =
(By Belle Moses. }

rthe chief wealth of the south lay IL
Its slaves, little blind baby wa.
born in the quarter" Of one of thu
big plantations. He was as black a.
the ace of spades, and with his hugh
mouth and fiat nose and wide-open
unseeing eyes he was indeed a gro
tesque-looking. object As he grew
older he grew uglier, and, worst Of
all, his mind was stunted, so poor
little Blind Tom" was not looked
upon as valuable possession, anC
very little notice was taken of him
for he was allowed to roam where he
would, and many time he skipped
the quarters" altogether, only to be
caught stealthily creeping into the
big house" and hauled ignomini,
ously back to where he belonged.
Still he persisted, and at last one
day when no one was looking he sue,
ceeded in crossing the threshold and
to determine where he wished to go
He went straight to the parlor where
a piano stood wide open--some one
had been playing, for Blind Tom had
been listening outside, just under the
window, and the tune was ringing In
his ears when he crept in. He climb.
ed upon the piano stool and began tc
finger the black and white keys, tim.
idly, for he was afraid of being
caught. At first he picked out the
tune he had just heared, note by
note; then by degrees the whole
melody rushed to his small and
grimy finger tips, and Blind Tom
his bullet head thrown back, let him.
self go in his ecstasy and forgot there
were such things as forbidden prem
ises-forgot everything, in short
save the music which was waking the
echoes Of the quiet house.
One of the young ladies' of the
family heard the unusual sound and
| crept down stairs to listen. When
she saw Tom at the piano she stole
softly away and called the others
the half-witted child seemed inspired
and played on and on, astounding
everybody by his brilliant perform
ance.
That was the beginning of Blind
Toms career. He became a cele-
brated figure in the musical world
through his heaven-sent gift of imi-
tation. A piece of music once play
ed was forever impressed on Tom s
imperfect brain, and the result was
marvellous.
He turned out to be the most
priceless treasure his white folks
owned, and even after freedom he
stayed with them going from city to
city on concert tours where he made
immense sums of money.
His nature like his brain, was Of
strange mold. He was particularly
cruel. He loved to hear of pain and
sickness and even death, and though
he had the best of masters he could
not bear correction patiently, and
thought no more of knocking down
a teachers who was brave enough to
find fault with his playing than OF
turning around ON his music stool.
That was his way of showing dis
pleasure, and after some specially
brilliant performances, when an en-
thusiastic audience went wild, Blind
Tom always applauded himself and
danced around the stage In an
ecstasy of glee.
For many years he toured the
country, always accompanied by one
of the same family, always showing
the same marvellous air and wonder
full knowledge of music, and al
though today there are many musical
prodigies, there has never risen one
quite as remarkable as our ungainly,
ugly, half-witted old Blind Tom. y