The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1938-04-14

before scientific research found
means of aiding the physically dis
abled. Today instruments have been
designed which provide mechanical
eyes and ears to youngsters born
without sight or hearing.
Science Takes a Hand.
In Evanston, ILL.,, five-year-old
Joan Higgins cannot see or hear but
is learning with the aid of 'phon-
otactor," devised by DR.. Robert H.
Gault of Northwestern university.
Whereas Helen Keller learned to
"hear" by placing her fingers on the
speakers lips, Joan Higgins phono-
factor translates voices into vibra-
tons. She places her fingers on SEN
sitive reeds which vibrate from "a
to 5000 times a second as the in
structor speaks into a telephone
transmitter. .....
Few joys can compare to that of
the blind person who regains his
sight through surgery. In Asbury
Park, N. j., Mrs. Ella Reynolds
was taken home from the hospital
to see the three children whose
faces she had often caressed, but
whom she had never seen. After
Is years of total blindness she was
again made happy by surgeons
who removed cataracts from her
eyes.
In Ell Paso, Texas, twelve-year-old
Julian Galindo could only exclaim,
"It's nderful!-beautifuli when
he saw the world for the first time
| in his life. And a grandmother in
Denver, whose sight was restored
after 20 years, could see her three
grandchildren after years of won
] dering what they looked like.
Infantile paralysis, one of man.
kinds most feared assailants, has
left in its wake many a crippled
victim but most of them have found
new hope in the Joy of living. The
most publicized case is that of Fred
erick Snite, Jr., whose millionaire
father willingly spends $4,000 day
to keep his son alive in the ''iron
lung" which may be his home for
the next 10 years. Stricken in China
during a round-the-world cruise,
young Snite has lived in the lung al
most two years but has never lost
courage. He jokes with his nurses
and his parents, keeps up an in
terest in world news and plays chess
by calling his moves.
From Cripple to Athlete.
It's an accomplishment for Grip
pie to regain average health and
become normally active, but it's
amazing when they become out
standing athletes! Glenn Cunning
ham, the worlds fastest human"
was trapped in a fire when he was
eight years old. What had once been
pair of legs were grim, blackened
fragments. Few people thought he
would ever walk again but Cunning
ham fooled them. Today if you
see him running around the track a
full hour before his race starts,
don't think Cunningham is "strut-
ting" for the public. He has to ex-
ercise those rebuilt legs, to work
up circulation by sustained effort.
Bobby Jones, the worlds greatest
golfer, was SO skinny as youngster
that good sneeze would have top
pied him in the dust.
Modern society is taking a much
more humane attitude toward the
cripple than did our forefathers. Sci
entists and the public alike are re-
alizing that physically handicapped
people can become useful citizens
if given help and encouragement.
| Pioneers like Helen Keller have
opened new fields of activity for the
blind. They have been taught USE
full trades and have gained indie
| pendence by using "seeing eye"
dogs, highly intelligent animals who
guide their masters through every
traffic hazard without danger.
But it takes grit to face the world
when the lights go out and you've
no legs to stand on. Ask Nettie
Tinonds or Jessie Simpson!
g Western Newspaper Union.