The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-08-08

He was blind man of about As, not
born with his misfortune. and he was
great traveller, says the New York Sun.
Wandering over the land seemed to be
the chief enjoyment of his life, and
once curious person who had become
intimate with him asked what substan
tial pleasure he could derive from it,
for surely his plight deprived him of
the keenest pleasure of the traveller.
"In a way you are right" he an
swered 81 know how much I lose,
for I used to travel a great deal be-
fore I lost my sight, and it was part
of the worst of that affection to feel
that with my sight the zest for travel
had to go also. but I was born with
| wanderers blood in my veins and in
| comparatively short time L discover
| ed that where we lose we also gain.
| Ny other senses had gained what my
sight lost.
| SIT was for the simple reason that
| the intelligence became keener. /
listened to everything that went on
| about me- I asked questions. I talk
ed to everyone. ]. poked about more
for curious things, and now I am posi-
tive / enjoy travelling far more than
the ordinary person, although / can
not see where [ go. In most cases the
mere sight of objects satisfies the trav-
e1er, but it is the intelligence and
l.imagination of those who cannot see
are on keener edge. I am sure, at any
rate that I get the tone and color and
spirit of new places far better than
used to.
Gone of the things that helped to-
ward that remarkably is the nose. The
olfactory nerves are right on edge for
me all the time, and you cannot know
how a subordinate sense such as smell
will fill ont your life until you lose
the predominant sense of sight. My
sense of smell gives that fine distinc-
ton between persons and places and
objects and conditions which is at the
basis of intelligent pleasure in life.
There are so many, innumerable odors
NOT unpleasant or offensive odors as
most people who canot smell foolish
~ imagine-and each smell is distinct
and characteristic to its object. You
know what Helen Keller says about
each person having a distintive odor-
a pleasant odor chiefy-and so I find
generally has each place, each condi-
ton, almost every object.
| "Perhaps one of the interesting
things to you persons who do not smell
at all is that each city has it's own
distinct odors. When you come into
New York, for instance, you recognize
the city by the towering office build
ings and all the familiar landmarks. I
recognize New York by distinctive
odors which / meet-through the
agency also of other impressions, parti-
cularly sound-but the sense of smell
plays a part.
"Now Broadway has a very distine-
tive odor down in the business district.
Of course [ don t mean to say that the
moment you leave that thoroughfare
the smell ceases or the moment YOU en-
ter it it can be recognized I should
rather say that New York s business
district has a Characteristic odor. Of
course it is practically impossible 70
define in words, to tell what elements
are in it.
"The best way to define any odor-
and the best way to define the Broad
way odor-is by constrast. You car
recognize it if you walk down to the
Battery or along South street, or along
the North river and then turn into the
business and financial district after
ward, and Immediately you notice the
difference of smell. Along the river
you not only get the smell of the ship
ping, of the produce of the docks, but
the smell of the water-not the keer
fresh invigorating smell of sea water
but the smell of the New York harbol
water-and it has a distinctive odo1
] of its own. I have called it at time:
| the river smell and you recognize i
] not only down the harbor but furthe,
up along the river where perhaps it il
less combined with other odors.
, "The Broadway smell I have de
: scribed to myself as the 'citv smell
because it can be met elsewhere, too
though I believe the odor of Broadway
is par excellence, the city SMELL I
is faint. but clean and perhaps dry, t.
attempt to define it. It is Just gucl
an "dor as you might expect where alb
solutelv no vegetation exists. wher
there is nothing but piles of rock, bricl
and masonry, where even the earth i
completely covered with mineral sub