Year: 1877

The strange being, so long known to
the world as rare musical wonder, may
almost be described as wild animal
born piano-crazy. He even seems to de-
your his meals to the sound of imaginary
music. A reporter at Virginia City ex-
pressed desire to see Tom at his meals,
and was accordingly taken to his room.


sit down here" said the agent, and
keep perfectly still. Tom detects the
slightest sound, and often puts people
out of the room under the impression
that they mean to injure him."


The reporter seated himself in one
corner of the room, and in few
moments waiter brought in Toms
meal and placed it upon stand. Shortly
afterward Tom was led in from an ad.
joining room and seated along side the
stand. The agent then withdrew, leav-
ing Tom and the reporter alone!
\ When the blind musician took his
seat, his features could be studied at
leisure. His head seemed to be a literal
copy from the pictures of idiots one sees
in the chronological works. There was
scarcely any forehead, his nose was large
and fiat, the mouth and jaws simply
brutal. His yellow, sightless eyes rolled
continually in their sockets, and the
whole aspect of his face was ferocious
and animal.


Immediately on seating himself, he
began to drum with his hands upon the
table, as If lingering the keys of piano,
at the same time humming an air in a
low tone. Next, he ran the tips of his
fingers over the stand, and touched in
succession beefsteak, dish of aspara-
gus, cup of tea and some bread and
potatoes.


Satisfying himself that grace was
warrantable, he calmly spread his hands
over it, and repeated short grace in
reverential tone and very slowly. The
instant the grace was said, he clutched
the beefsteak in both hands, and, lifting
it to his mouth, tore it in fragments be-
tween his teeth. seeming to swallow
the pieces without mastication.


AS soon as the steak was disposed of,
he began sweetening his tea with little
cubes of sugar. He evidently likes his
tea sweet, for he put sixteen ordinary
cubes of sugar into his cup, and, then
stirring the mixture, drank it down with
a smack of satisfaction.


When this was done, he uttered cry
of delight, and, turning from the table,
rubbed his hands together in sort of
childish glee, and danced about the
room. Going up to the mantelpiece, he
went through the motions of playing,
taking no notice whatever of the articles
which he knocked off. Suddenly he
rushed back to the table and made raid
on the dish of asparagus, eating the
stems entire, the white, stringy part, as
well as the tender extremity.


He next clutched large potato in
his hand and placed it between his teeth,
but suddenly changed his mind, and
casting it down, lifted his eyes towards
the ceiling, and again placed his hands
in position to play.


He held his head motionless for some
minutes, as endeavoring to catch some
stray musical fancy which was drifting
through his mind.


Occasionally he made a movement
with his hands as if he were about to
strike chord, but checked himself and
bit his lips as if impatient. Then his
face would lose its brutal expression,
and, as his eyes turned upward, seemed
inspired. Finally he began beating time
with his foot, smile broke over his
features. and he went through the move
ment of playing.