Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-24
BLIND PIANO TUNER
TAKESLAW COURSE
Wade Hampton Mitchell Has
Kindly Philosophy and
Aids Fellows.

hition--to get college education. one
day, while choppinc wood, nail flew
up and struck him in the eye. There
was lack of proper medical attention
In A few weeks he had become totally
and permanently blind in both eyes.
Next June that erstwhile boy will
receive his law degree from George
| Washington University Law School
| Already he has graduated from two
educational institutions and since then
has made his living by day and studied
by night.
Wade Hampton Mitchell. by day one
Of the best piano tuners in Washing
ton. by night student. is one of the
happiest men in the city.
He's got an eight-word philosophy
of life:
"A mans never beaten until he
gives up
Never Given Up.
| Mitchell. as boy and as man. has
never given up--and he's won the bat
ties of life, handicapped by eyes that
see not. but blessed by a determination
to overcome all obstacles.
| A map of the city is spread out
always in his mind, He has memorized
! the exact route of every street car
and bus line and goes about unattend.
ed. finding addresses sometimes in re-
mote sections. So keen is his sense
of location that he can figure the dis
lance of a given address from the
nearest car or bus stop and go there
with unerring direCtness. Standing on
| the loading platform, waiting for
car, he hears the doors open and asks
the operator which car it is.
| Using what he terms his two assets
/ l.
ory--he listens for the traffic signals
and threads his way about the streets
with almost uncanny dizziness. At
crossings where there is no traffic Off
Ger he pauses, listens carefully and
then, when his sensitive ears assure
him that the way is open. makes his
way across the street. He does not
| swerve As he walks, but goes in a
direct line.
Trying to Help.
/ No trace of bitterness creeps into
| his conversation or thought. He says
| he hasn't got time to think about him.
self. When he's not working, usually
| tuning expensive concert pianos, only
entrusted to a master tuner, or study
ing his law books, he's helping some
| body else.
MY religion is trying to help other
| people" he said. Il try to help those
whom the world often forGets. l get
my kick out of that"
A graduate of the Virginia School
| for the Deaf and Blind, at Staunton,
and an active member of the Virginia
| Association of Workers for the Blind,
| he visits many places, seeking to aid
others who have not had, as he said,
| the opportunities I've had
| Michel made his own opportunities.
| His people were not wealthy He
| worked and saved, put himself
| through the school at Staunton, and
| later, working at night, won diploma
| from the Vanguard School of Music
| Tuning, in New York.
Cant Be Crouch"
Adversely. slow and painful days of
work and study, have failed to change
| his CHEEKY voice or dim smile that
is reflection of a peculiarly Winning
personality.
You can't be a crouch and get
| through the world" he said, land you
must be optimistic. Nobody is going
to hand you an opportunity-you have
to produce the conditions which afford
the opportunities"
Mr.. Mitchell has used the talents
and senses which were left him when
| his sight was destroyed. He has de-
| veloped his sense of hearing to a re-
markable degree, being able to detect
| and interpret sounds which the
ordinary man would fail to hear.
Realizing that he cannot jot down
| things which he wishes to recall, he
| has developed memory which retains
virtually everything which he desires
| it to do.
Dictated Examination Answers.
| During his law course at George
| Washington University. he explained.
| his wife read his lessons to him every
night. When examination time came
round she accompanied him to school
and he dictated to her the answers to
the examination questions.
| Attending classes just as the other
students did, and making better grades
than most of them, he distracted his
briefs in New York point" akin to
| the Braille system, and took down the
professors lectures in the same man
ner. He reads his abstracts, prepared
| in this way, and recites in turn with
1.-THE other students.
When he receives his degree next
/ year it will mark the elimination OF
his life's ambition. Already he is an
ticipating his great day, marking as 1t
does the reward of the patient work
of years. About the only regret he
expresses in connection with his blind
ness is the fact that it has delayed the
day when he could obtain his college
degree. AS boy he had dreamed of
taking his degree with other youths
| OF his own age.
Has Tuners Ear"
Although he plays with the fingers
of an artist and the feeling of poet
he denies that he is a natural-born
musician, admitting 1nodestly-he Is a
man of modest mein-that his teach,
ers have regarded him as natural
musician.
II have what is termed tuners
ear" he explained, land that does
not imply necessarily an ear for mu
sic, but rather a sense of the gradua'
ton of sounds It is cultivated"
Mr.. Mitchell has tuned some of the
most expensive pianos in the city.
Two years ago he fell and broke
his leg. It didn't feaze him a bit. He
didn't even growl about it; just re
marked to his friends, IT'S something
that's liable to happen to anybody"
Is Lodge Chaplain.
Liking the ASSOCIATION oL Ills leIloN
man. he belongs to the fraternal order
of Moose and is chaplain of his lodge
nationally known as 1.-THE blind chap
lain" He has taken occasion to visit
the great Moose home for children al
Mooseheart Ind, and has played q
part in making it a success.
Genial, full of fun, he's interested ir
the world about him. So wholesome
is his philosophy of a darkened life
that to him has become a thing Of
light and joy that he regards his blind
ness in the nature Of an asset.
It's developed my individuality" ht
said, shown me the way to friend
| ships might never have made. taught