The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1911-04-27
TAFT AT BLIND FOLKS SHOW
BLIND COWWITTEE MEETS MN.
RIIND TENOR SINGS.
RIind WOrkm ami Work women Ply
Many Crafts New Motto Il Work. Not
segregation Al Praise the Light.
house" ami Mean 10 Make Il nleger.

Many Crafts New Motto Il " Ork. Not
SEGREGATION Al Praise the Light.
house" snd Mean 10 Make II Dieser.
When President Taft reached the Metro
poli,a an Opera House shortly after o clock
last night 10 open the Blind Workers
Exhibition arranged by Miss Winifred
Holt, he found a busy workshop in which
nearly forty trades were represeni ed
by blind men and women. Blind weaver
operating looms, blind stenographers
taking notes. a blind wireless operator
working his sputtering apparatus. blind
carpenters, seamstresses. cooks. broom
makers. piano tuners and even blind
barber were there.
The President was met by blind re-
ception committee consisting OF Charles
Holmes of the Massachusetts Commission
for the Blind: Miss Lewis Of the Connec-
ticut School for the Blind; Miss Lydia
Hayes OF the New Jersey Commission
for the Blind two honor children Of the
New York public schools. William Sohenk
and Viola Bryson; and Miss Keator. presi-
dent OF the Blind Women's Club Of the
New York Association for the Blind. to
which President Taft dictated a letter
at the Actors Fund Fair last year.
Mr.. Taft was escorted 10 the platform
and sat in a chair made by william Bau-
man. a blind upholsierer. This chair is to
be ucioned OF lat er in the week by Joseph
=. Day. On the pla torn with the Presi-
dent were Joseph II. Choate. Dr. Felix
Adler. John Cadwalader. r. Fulton Cut
ting Rober, ". De Forest. Homer Folks.
Bishop Greer. Mrs. Edward r. Hewitt,
Miss Holt, Henry Holt. Seth Low. Gen.
Charles F. Roe. Herbert l.. Satterlee
Francis Lynde Stetson. Henry ". Taft
and Egerton l.. Winthrop. Jr.
There was an organ prelude by Miss
Sophie Grabowski. a blind organist OF
Nanticoke. Pa, and a tenor solo by Will
lam Heinrich also blind At the close
of Mr.. Heinrich's song President Taft
sent for him and talked with him for
several minutes.
Mr.. Choate. who presided. said in his
opening address that the association
under whose auspices the exhibition was
held was organized IN 1905 with a capital
OF $500 and the splendid exhibition was a
testimonial to what had been accomplished
through Miss Holt efforts in five years
THAT 80 great things could be &C
, complished from so small beginnings is
An example Of the concentration Of human
. energy that has been seldom surpassed,
he said They are all embodied con
. cretely in one human form; an embodi
ment OF human radiuin is radiated from
, one woman Her name is Miss winifred
Holt
Five years ago tonight ! assist ed tn,
lamented Mark Twain in conducting tn.
first meeting We all mourn for tina
great and good man. whose warm hear
responded to every human call and wal
especially responsive to the blind. Th'
i blind cannot help but mourn his loss
3 The establishment OF the association
n marked n new era in the history of tn,
, blind. Up to that time il was generally
thought We had done our duty to th'
e blind when we provid shelter for then
ttn asylums and homes. Imagine Miss
Helen Keller immursd in an asylum.
3 The blind want work. not asylums
< When first went to England thirty-tws
! wears ago | saw there the Postmast
@ General and one OF the foremost intel
loctuai lights Of ths country, Henr,
3 Fawcett. who lost the sight Of both eyei
\ instantly by an unhappy accident in hunt
ing, The first words he uttered when h
came to his senses is a clarion call Il
g all blndimen: This accident shall mak'
u no difference in my career. My activi
ties shall bs conducted along tho sam'
line and with the same vigor as ths y have
always been
Mr.. Choate said that before the ent
: OF the week the citizens of New Yorl
would decide that what has already beel
J, done by Miss Holt's organization is de
u serving OF their support ten times owe
for it's future usefulness. When il wa
started those interested thought ther
might be I 900 blind persons in the cit,
u OF New York. They have since foun'
that there are ?. 400 in the city and owe
IS 1000 in the State.
!. There a-e over 81, 600 in the Unite,
n States" said Mr.. Choate. and whe
= the President comes here he come
d rightly in response to q great nationa
Icall. II is a shame TO the State Of Ne,
IS York that the lighthouse must b
'r cramped up in a little building seventee
r. feet wide The association requires on
. seventy feet wide which shall attrac
e the attention of every passerby. On
result to he hoped from this exhibitio
y is that means will be placed in the hand
10 Of the Association to erect buildin
ID over the heads Of the blind thai is worth
ii of the cause
a. Opening his Introduction Of Presider
vi Taft. Mr.. Choete said:
N we are grateful for the many thin
" he has done and is now doing. He ha
m been promoting the universal cause
he reace and the welfare Of the people and
promoting the interchange OF good wi
y, with our neighbors by reciprocity. B,
" we welcome him now because he com,
,s as the friend OF humanity and as n
friend supporter and advocate of II
40 blind"
a. As Mr.. Choate spoke an immense ligh
/, house on the stage threw its rays ov,
n the audience. The lighthouse IL on
n. blernatic of the motto of the associa Al iol
to "Light Through Work. which has cause
Ia nr L LII,