Evening star., 1935-03-17
A FTER several years of the E,

A FTER several years of the Ever
green project it was decided that
the activities, which were meant only
as a necessary wartime measure. had
virtually completed their mission.
The newly-taught veterans went back
to their homes and the Red Cross
turned over its equipment to the Vet
eranS' Bureau for disposal. AS for the
books, they were sent to the Service
tor the Blind"
That wartime experiment. and
subsequent ramifications of it. was in
great part responsible for the ex-
tensive work among the blind now 60
ing on in America today. Consider
the matter of recreation - even
Christmas cards are available for the
SightleSs. though, of course. they can
not be OF pictorial nature, merely con-
sisting of cheerful messages. Playing
cards likewise are much in demand
Regular cards are used, each one
being indented with Braille on two
opposite corners The one corner tells
the number and the other the CLASH
fication of the card.
Very recently considerable atten-
ton has been given to the so-called
"talking-book," a novel method Of
reading 1t is not known who con-
ceived the idea. But like most inven-
tons, it seems to have originated with
several people at about the same time
Many have attempted to perfect such
an apparatus. At the present time
the American Foundation for the
Blind has on the market what seems
to be fairly successful development
of the talking book. Briefly, it may
be described as follows:
1t is a book recorded as long play
ing phonograph disc records. Each
disc will play for more than a half
hour and an entire novel may be
recorded on dozen or fifteen 12-
inch discs. These records will be
loaned to readers by circulating Ii
braries for the blind, in just the same
way as ordinary Braille books. The
machine on which the records are
played are constructed along the lines
of an ordinary gramophone, but re-
volve at much slower speed. They
Will be sold in three models, two
electrical and combining radio sets
and one hand-wound type, without
the advantage of radio
Since it is well known that the
Federal Government appropriates
100000 annually to provide books for
the blind, and since the talking book
has now become a reality, many peo-
pie are asking: rs Braille transcrib-
ing any longer needed? Should a
volunteer be asked to copy Braille by
hand II it can be produced more
easily In some other way?"
A UTHORITIES at the Red Cross
point out that the talking book
viii supplement Braille reading, but
that it will never take its place. The
machine is too expensive for every
blind reader to possess one. It will
be years before libraries will have a
collection OF book records to compare
with that of Braille books. Many
readers will still prefer to read for
themselves.
1t is stated on good authority that
not more than one-quarter of the
blind people in the United States
make any practical use of Braille
books. Therefore, the talking book
will open q new door to literature to
thousands of blind people who have
heretofore been deprived of reading
matter.
In England, where Braille printing
has been carried on for nearly a CEN
tury under royal patronage and large
endowments, 80 per cent Of the books