Evening journal., 1909-06-30
Remarkable Blind Man.

Glasgow. Ky. has without a doubt, /
one Of the most remarkable, II not the
most remarkable. blind man in the
United States in the person OF Willie
r. Settle. Blind from early boyhood.
Settle was educated at the school for
the blind in Louisville After COM
pleting his education he took up
broommaking and for several years he
managed the business fairly well. until
competition cut the prices and there
was hardly living for him. He was
forced to cast about for something
more remunerative II was at this
time that he gained public prominence
here by Offering to build himself
home, doing all the cabinet work. II
the town of Glasgow would donate him
a lot. The matter was looked on as a
joke for a time. for the idea OF a blind
man doing carpenter work seemed sim
ply out of the question. At a public
meeting called for the purpose Mr..
Settle demonstrated to a good sized
audience that he was physically able
to carry out his part of the contract.
A lot in Front street was selected
and to- day there stands as a monu-
ment TO his energy and skill neat
little three room cottage which on the
closest inspection bears no trace of the
misuse OF tools. Something like a year
ago he began the manufacture of mot
toes for residences, schools, churches
and business houses. These notices
are made by the saving of strips the
size he desires his letters. cutting and
joining the letters together and fasten-
ing them on a board To get a suffi-
cient amount of these strips was a
problem. To saw them by hand would
make the manufacture of the Alottoes
improbable, so he conceived the idea
Of saving them at a hand-saw at one
Of the mills here
II the people were astonished when
he agreed to build a house the pro-
prietor of the mill was dumfounded
when Settle asked permission TO use
one of the most hazardous pieces Of ma
chinery in planning mill and only tho
most skilled and painstalcng men are
allowed to run them. Had Mr. Settle
requested the manager of the mill to
saw his head off he would not have
been more astonished. After explain
ing his methods he was allowed a trial
and did the work successfully, which
allowed him to manufacture his mot
toes and realize three times as much
on the same amount of labor as II
required to make brooms. Mr.. Settle
has so trained his sense Of hearing
that he can tell most any article by
hearing it dropped on the floor. Re
Gently he underwent the test of letting
party drop number of bits such as
used by a carpenter in a brace anC
bit, and so acute was his hearing tha
he almost invariably told the size o
the bit by the sound. He Is UNUSUAL,
fond of children. and has an acquain.
tance OF from one to two hundred o
them, whom he meets and calls b,
name from hearing them speak, which
is another test Of his wonderful powei
of memory and hearing. Mr.. Settle
has invented a machine to be used b,
} carpenters and expects to place IL OF
the market at an early date.
While the exact nature Of his in.
ventlon is known only to him, It II
destined to become very popular. ac
cording to reports. Recently Mr.. Settl,
surprised his neighbors by climbing I,
the highest point Of his roof and plac
ing a sign. To convince sceptics tha
The performed this feat he had a phot,
made while standing erect on the coml
OF the house. When asked why III
took such seeming unnecessary risk
he summed II up in one short sentence
ITO encourage other blind people e
; try" His whole being seems centrel
on helping afflicted ones like himsel
and should any of his inventions brini
large returns, or he come into posses
, sion OF a large sum through other chan
nels, It will be used TO further the in
terests OF the blind.-Cincinnati Com
mercial Tribune.