Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-13
GOOD SAMARITAN IN
AUTOMOBILE VISITS
OLD BLIND WOMAN
Reader of BralIIe Bible Is Surprised
at Hearing Gold Coin
Drop In Her Tin
Cup

There are numerous people who sit
along the sidewalks of Los Angeles
and ask for public sympathy.
Occasionally they receive surprising
donations from passersby.
There is the musical group. A blind
man Of large build who sings and ac-
companies himself and his young
daughter on violin is to be seen daily.
and their selection of ballads is now
being interspersed with such patriotic
airs as columbia, the Gem of the
Ocean,"
Then there is the blind man, of ex-
treme age, who plays a fiddle farther
up Broadway, and who constantly ap-
peals to people through his infirmity.
His fiddle is ever high-keyed appar-
emily, while his collections do not seem
to amount to much.
Then there Is another musician and
his wife; he Is blind like the former
one. He sings, with a baby in his
arms. This sight causes many to
drop offerings in the little cup held by
the wife. Their voices blend well, and
the ballads draw quite crowd on a
Saturday night, when the strollers are
out in force.
Blino woman is surprised
One of the greatest surprises in the
way of an offering came to an old blind
woman who is seen every day near
Fourth and Broadway either reading
out of huge Bible printed in Braille
(the raised type for the blind) or knit
ting deftly with her all-seeing fingers.
The old man who sits by the court
house tapping on his box Of pencils and
other nicknacks with two pencils to
attract customers attention-for he,
too, lives in the shadows-does not
draw the crowd that she does.
This old woman exhibits patience
which touches the heart of many a
careless passerby, and many times a
day the tin cup rattles with the sound
Of falling coins.
But her greatest surprise came only
last week.
AS the old woman sat slipping her
fingers over the raised type of her
Braille Bible large touring car was
seen approaching down Broadway. The
car carried but two passengers-a
livery, including the visored cap, the
long, large buttoned coat and the
leather leggins, and a woman of fash
ion, dressed in the latest style, with
veil wrapped around her Merry
Widow hat. AS the car approached
the corner where the S1ghtleSS OLD
woman sat 1t swerved until the side
door of the vehicle was almost at the
elbow of the blind woman.
Automobile Brings Good Samaritan
The passenger in the automobile
leaned over the side of the car Her
outstretched hand could not get quite
over the little battered tin cup. So the
chauffeur, touching his cap, sprang to
the sidewalk.
He opened the door, and then the oc-
cupant of the car stepped to the side
walk lightly, and, bending over the
age-smitten form of the unfortunate
one, she dropped $40 gold piece into
the tin cup.
The rattle of the coin was different
from that which ever resounded within
it before. Instinctively the old woman's
bent and calloused hands, which had
had to fight life's battles under such
terrible odds, groped into the cup. The
fingers closed about the shining coin
and the sightless eyes were turned up
ward to where the owner of the auto
mobile had been standing.
But, like true Good Samaritan, the
latter had departed without waiting to
give name or address or worry the
recipient by waiting for her thanks.
But the look Of joy which overspread
the features Of the poor old woman
was benediction on the passing
throng that entire day.