Evening star., 1934-04-12

NEW YORK CITY, April IL
Ramifications Of the steadily growing
movement to eliminate the principal
causes Of blindness and reduce eye
accidents to a minimum extend to
the medical and nursing professions.
social work, the field of education, in
dustry, organized labor, the safety
movement and Federal. State and
local governmental departments, it is
indicated in the annual report of the
National Society for the Prevention
of Blindness, made public today. Will
liam Fellowes Morgan is president
and Elihu Root is honorary president
of the society.
Many children who are now In
schools for the blind, the report
states, might gain sight through ade-
quate medical or surgical treatment
This situation was discovered recently
in the course Of a study by the Com
mittee on Statistics Of the Blind,
sponsored jointly by the American
Foundation for the Blind and the Ma
tional Society for the Prevention OF
Blindness. Steps are being taken to
bring these children the proper med
ical attention.
The report points out that five
states-New York, Pennsylvania, Mich
igan, Nebraska and Massachusetts,
now require the use of non-shatter-
able glass in all automobiles. The
society's aid toward advancing this
legislation was prompted by the seri-
GUS eye hazard involved In automobile
accidents. Non-shatterable glass has
also been perfected for use in spec
tacles.
y \ 4 4
1.-THE worst tragedy of blindness
lies in the fact that in the vast ma
jority Of instances it Is absolutely pre-
ventable." declared Lewis H. Carris,
managing director, in q statement
accompanying the report. There are
more than 100000 blind persons in
the United States; picture to yourself
the great army Of men, women and
children who are needlessly doomed
to grope In darkness!
Ignorance is usually the underly-
ing reason for loss of sight, whether
1t be the result Of disease or accident.
The work Of the National Society for
the Prevention Of Blindness is, there
fore, concentrated largely on point
ing the way. It's function is to keep
abreast Of scientific and pedagogical
knowledge and to inform the public
IN lsyman's language Of such ad-
vances and how they may be applied
practically in preventing blindness
and saving sight.
During the past year, for example,
the society had staff member en-
gagged solely in working with teacher
training institutions to provide ade-
quate information or eye care and
hygiene and to guide class room
teachers toward participation in the
school program Of sight conservation.
Approximately 26,000,000 children at
tend school in the United States.
Many Of them are accorded the bene-
fits Of vision testing, adequate light
ing and hygienic surroundings, but
millions do not have the advantages
Of good eye care. Not only must the
school child's eyes be protected, but
he must learn how to protect them
and how to use them properly
throughout life.
'In our efforts to bring about more
thoroughgoing protection Of the eyes
of Industrial workers we have CO.
operated with such organizations as
the National Safety Council, the
American Federation Of Labor, the
United States Bureau Of Standards,
the Greater New York Safety Con-
ference and various State depart
ments Of labor snd industry"