Evening star. [volume], March 29, 1908, Page 3, Image 47

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
LONDON. March 15). 11W8.
THERE was published recently In
many American newspapers an
interesting article about America's
famous living blind men.
It contained no reference, however.
to Dr. Francis Joseph Campbell, an
American who is the head of the Royal
Normal College and Academy of Music
for the Blind at Norwood, one of the
suburbs of I*ondon. So far as it Is possible
for such an institution to he the
work of one man the college is Dr. Campbell's
own creation. Englishmen believe
It to be the best of its kind in the world,
and the man who has made it what it is
is worth telling about.
j*
k *
Pr F. J Campbell may not be the
world's most wonderful blind man. Cer- j
lainly he would never claim that distlnct
on fgr himself. But a still greater distinction
may be claimed for him. He
has done more for the dwellers dn tne
kirgdom of eternal night than any other
blind man. When destiny has a great
work in store for a man she usually pre- !
pares him for it by giving a par tie ular'y
rough time. That is almost in- ,
variably the ease when the work required
of him is the helping of others. He must
suffer that he. may know how to mitigate
suffering; he must surmount great obetae
es before he can show others how
to surmount them. It was so with I>r.
Campbell.
He was not born blind. But to qualify
him for his life'p task it was essential
that he should lose his sight. Playing in
the yard of his parents' home in Franklin
county. Tenn.. one day. when he was between
three and four years old. he ran
into an acacia tree and a sharp thorn
pierced an eyeball. Under medical treatment
of a specialist. It Is probable that
he would have suffered no permanent Injury
to his eyesight. At the worst he
would have lost the sight of only one
eye But an inexperienced doctor was j
at hand to see that he should be properly i
fitted for his futurp sphere of usefulness, i
By doing the wrong thing this doctor set j
up a dangerous inflammation in the Injured
eye. It spread to the other eye,
and before it subsided the sight of both
eyes was gone forever.
.
* *
Tennessee had no school for the blind J
In those days. Not until the boy was ten !
years old was a small one opened in
Nashville. Thither young Campbell was
Wa Vi-jW u nasslnn fr>r learning.
Within three-quarter? of an hour after j
his'arrival he had mastered the alphabet. 1
But It was no part of the scheme of ,
destiny to make things easy for him. A
terrible disappointment awaited him. i
When he appeared for his first lesson in '
music he made such a wretched failure j
of his attempts to sound his notes and
showed such an utter incapacity to hum
even a tune that his teacher decided then
and there that musical instruction would j
be wasted on him. The man who has
done more than any other man to nvike
music the chief solace and support of the
blind was forbidden to touch a piano. He
was relegated to brush and basketmaklng.
Instead of crushing him that only stlmuulated
him. With or without the teacher's
aid he determined that he would master
music. .
He persuaded one of the boys to give j
him lesson? secretly. Three months later !
the music master, also blind, who had
pronounced him hopelessly Incompetent,
rhaaced to enter the room where young !
Campbell was playing.
"Who is that doing the new lesson so
weir?" he asked.
"I. sir." replied the hoy. "I have
learned all that you have taught the
otr.er Doys.
Fifteen months later he gained the prlre j
for pianoforte playing. He worked hard j
for it. As there were only two pianos In
the school he had to pet up at 4 o'clock i
in the morning in order to get his turn ,
for practice.
*
* *
In the second winter the cold was intense.
To make matters worse the coal
gave out. But he still kept up his
practice He would play for half an
hour, then, rushing into the playground,
would run a mile at top speed to thaw
his freezing liinhs. By running ten miles
a day he was able to generate the bodily
warmth reeded to carry him through five
hours' practice at the piano. When he
was barely twenty he was appointed
teacher of music jn the very institution j
where, he says. "I had first been told I j
could never learn music "
Meanwhile, by financial reverses, his '
father had become greatlv impoverished.
The young man who was to accomplish
such a great work in teaching the blind
how to be self-supporting had first to
master that lesson himself There were
no limits to his energy When he was
appointed music teacher he took up other
courses of study, which included mathe- '
matics. Bat in and Greek To keep pace
with his self-appointed task work, while i
devoting much of the day to music lessons.
he cut down the portion of sleep
which ho allotted himself to four hours.
Re gepi hwn readers going The first 1
rowd to him until 10 o'clock at night. The
rf<rnyid waked up to begin his inning at '2
o'clock The natural result of such systematic
overwork was a complete nervous
breakdwn- Death or three months' holi
day was. the doctor's verdict At first
be was Srnewhat passionately bent on
rlskinp this former alternative, but. on
second tlioii^tg. p.o decided to try the
holiday.
With a brofy>r and friend lie started
off to the rnout^ains. set up housekeeping
in a cabin f*r> miles awav from anybody
and went i? for a hard spell of
vnoa Hun ivi riimoniK- ^
In < ompany wlt\ my brother. ' he
pave. "I could ascend almost inaccessible
mountain cliffs. I r^.amf an expert
climber. Once far from our cabin w
decided toqult the path \nd descend the
Bteep face of the mountains, swinging
ourselves from tree to tree. I could
rllmb any tfpe that I could clasp with my
arms."
*
* *
It is small wonder th^t when, many
years later. Tyndall. the great scientist,
meeting this indomitable man. scaling a
difficult Alpine peak (he is the only blind
man who ever limbed Mont Blanc) with
all the vigor and assurance of one possessed
of the fyl! use of his eyes, exclaimed
"Are j oij really blind, or are you
only humbugging?"
By the time his three months' holiday
had expired he was completely restored
and he had learned a lesson to which
v \ \?
Tee 0)lindJ\mei<
has Created Engl
Greatest Instjtu.
Education and JRa
The, Slind
IMP- ^
I?1%^wt JOB; ^H(B
I I
I 4
r
j3lind ii
much of the success achieved by the
famous Norwood institution is due To
make the blind strong and healthy?to
generate in them a superabundance of
vitality?Is. according to Dr. Campbell,
the first essential in equipping them to
overcome the terrible handicap in the
struggle of life which their lack of sight
Imposes on them.
His Insatiable thirst for knowledge led
Dr. Campbell to Harvard. There he
married. But his apprenticesh'p to hard
times was not yet over. He lost all his
savings. He returned to Tennessee and
wa3 musical director of a flourishing
girls' school. At Harvard he had come
under the influence of Lloyd Garrison.
and it was as an abolitionist that he
returned to Tennessee. In those days?it
was in 1S56?public feeling aganst abolitionists
had reached that inflammatory
stage in which passion alone holds sway
and the ordinary rules of judgment are
suspended. Dr. Campbell was not the
man to hide his opinions. It soon l?ecame
known that he was an abolitionist.
To this offense a worse one was added.
It was discovered that he was teaching
a negro to read.
*?
* *
A deputation of prominent citizens waited
upon him to convince him of the error
ANECDOTE
SELF-DIVIDED.
i {T INTERVIEWED Alfred Vanderbilt
A in Paris." said a foreign correspondent,
"on the coaching run he will
make this summer from London to
Brighton. I know that run well?I made
it once myself on a May day?a run of
sixty miles over a firm, white road, between
parks and gardens loud with bird
music.
"Now I am rather fat, and as Mr. Vanderbiit
talked he noticed this.
" 'If you make the run with me,' he
said, 'don't order two seats for yourself,
as a fat friend of mine did for comfort's
sake.'
" 'No?' said I.
" 'My friend ordered two seats on the
Brighton coach last year,' said Mr. Yanderbilt,
'and found, when lie came to
occupy them, that the clerk had booked
him one outside and one inside.' "
THE SLOW TRAIN.
ANDREW Carnegie, at the Economic
Club's recent dinner at the Hotel
Astor in New York, said that the eeo|
nomie system of the United States wa;
I the worst in the world.
"We are as slow in that line," said Mr.
Carnegie, at the end of his speech, "as u
train I used to take to Allegheny.
"On this train, one day, an old man with
a white beard handed the conductor a
i half ticket.
" 'Here, this won't do, you know,' said
j the conductor. 'This is a child's ticket."
I " 'Well.' said the old man, '1 was a child
| when this train started." "
I
THE BIELITZ GHOST.
<<VfOl'K place, sir, will never be filled,"
? said a reporter to Heinrieh Conreid
the retiring director of the Metropolitai
Opera House of New York.
Mr. Conreid shook his head and smiled
"There was a ghost," he said, "a ghosl
in Bielitz. my native Bielitz. I will tel
you of him.
"The ghost haunted the inn. Nobodj
minded him, for in Silesia he was we!
known, but an Englishman stopped at tin
Inn one night in the season, and to bin
the ghost had not been explained.
"So the next morning the Knglishmar
came down to his breakfast pale, blood
shot and irritable,
j " "Landlord." he said, 'tell me. is not mi
j room haunted?"
" "Why, yes," said the landlord. 'Didn*
you know?"
" 'Of course I did not know! What ti<
. _ - ?
UDENTzr^mKlNQ A UYCLE jauK>
of hia ways. The deputation failed to
i convince him. Ho refused to abandon
his abolitionist sentiments; ho would not
promise to give up teaching negroes.
Finally an ultimatum was launched
i j against him. If he did not change his
: j decision In twenty-four hours ho would
. | be ewung Into eternity from the nearest
! tree. Dr. Campbell was left with his
1 ; young wife to look at life and death
> i through the hangman's noose. Probably
I j the committee would never have gone
i to the length of executing Its threat,
j Popular feeling, however excited, would
| not tolerate the lynching of a blind man.
j For the death sentence a boycott was
i substituted. All his pupils deserted him.
! The necessity of earning a livelihood
I compelled him to leave his native state
! The work required of him lay elsewhere,
j For a time he had a hard struggle to
i make both ends meet. He made hie way
I to Boston and. there the Perkins Instli
tutlon gave him the chance which put
' him on his feet aga'n. He undertook
! to teach music, for one term for noth1
ing. and so admirably did he succeed
I that he was installed as the head of the
\ musical department, a position which he
i held for eleven years. It was in Boston Th
i that he laid the foundations, in theory, j hoi
of the system which he was ultimately! 1
j to apply so successfully at Norwood. ! wo
5 TOLD BY /
I you mean. sir. by putting me in a haunted j tin
rorim 'f t h o IT?i r? 11 c 11 r?-i -. n ctor inm I In l
; i W'MII . liiv OHM III* '? '??J
| " 'But the old fellow is quite harmless," tin
| said the landlord, reassuringly. j ho
| "'The old fellow?" ex
'"'Yes,' said the landlord. 'The ghost, j nif
! the old fellow who built up the business. ]
He built it up, you know, and died, ami j sonow
he can't rest easy because it goes 3o<
on as well as ever it did without him." " foi
i in;
A PACKING INDEX.
EXPLORER Peary had just come from ;
the White House. ' *r
"You will get there yet." an admirer IV
said to him. "You become a better and !
; better explorer every trip." j j)0;
"Well." said the other, with a modest ! *
smile, "there are tri-ks in every trade, ; (0
' of course, and as wo live we learn." i gj,
He smiled. i th;
' j "The longer we live, the more we learn," \p
' said he. "1 knew an old grocer in Cresson jjr
| who had learned a lot. 1 stopped before pa
| his shop one day and looked curiously at
a great lino of barrels, barrels of apples.
some marked with an A and some marked
. with a 'A.
[ " "Why are thos" barrels marked differ- ; rel
i ently, I'nele Josh?' I said to the old man. j on
' ' 'They seem to be the same kind of:
i apples." jda
i ** 'Tllf V' ig 1 rt eutnft t< 1 * cnn t I
man replied. 'hut some customers want a < co1
] barrel opened at the top and some at in'
1 i the bottom.' " ;
? i lai
SAUCE FOR THE GANDER. !sa.
i!
li\Y/l'l should give these men the treat- ,i>;
I | ** merit they give us." said Mrs.
| Boorman Wells, the English suffragette,
IJ at a ladles' luncheon at the Plaza.
S "I know a woman In Park Lane whose
husband used to stay out continually till ^
4 or ."> o'clock in the morning.
"She cured him.
"The last time he came home at dawn m<
he found her, in a low-cut dinner gown, j 1,1
' ; yawning over a novel and a cup of t< a. j
" 'I didn't?er?suppose you'd sit up for i sa:
me. dear." lie said. an
' " 'Oh,' said she. I haven't been sitting jjj.
L . up for you, darling. I've just come in .,
1 myself.' " v'
RATHER A MISNOMER.
I ! wf
TIJIRS. Patrick Campbell, tiie talented
English actress, said the other day;
1 i of an English critic whose methods she j
dislikes: . st(
1 i "The man is not a critic at all. He has
_ I CO
not enough intelligence to he a critic. In aj]
fact, he belies his name like-like "
' She smiled.
"An incident will supply my similie," she j ^
said. |
) "On one of my voyages to the states a
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XXEJ2CJ5JNG JN. THE JJQ
i
at was the cultivation of the physical | yet
ilth and energy of the bl'nd. , res
t was inevitable that he should over- j of
rk himself. In lStSO he was given ailies
iND ABOUT
? weather was extremely rough. As I a
f in my berth my luggage and the fit- plti
igs of my stateroom were flung about wli
rrihly. All of a sudden there came an
tra heavy lurch, and something struck
on the head.
I was stunned. Tiie blow had been j Tly
cere. When I recovered my senses and AV
iked to see wliat had so nearly done VPI
r me. I beheld an admirable contrivance .
irked, in great black letters, 'Lffe-sayf
Apparatus.' " 17111
ON MARRIAGE. chl
7T\RK Twain, at the remarkably beau- <.g,
* t if til dinner that Robert Collier gave on<
Sherry's in New York last month, sat
sides Miss Kthol Barry more. j7''
diss Barrymore, the story goes, talked
the great humorist about marriage, hit
?nnlip of the oilil vipu's on marriairp ^
;it are held by H. ti. Wells, by George
jore, by George Meredith and by Mr.
wells, who is continually saying that
ssionate love soon dies. T
'What is your idea of marriage?" she
of
ked the humorist.
k n1
'Let rh.e repeat to you." he replied, "a ^
nark that I heard a Hartford man
on
cc make.
'It was at the marriage of this man's
ughter. All was over, and the young
uple were about to start on their honey- 1 11
as
ion.
?1 T
'The man. as he bade his new son-in- .
v good-bye. shook him by the hand and rl?
id huskily: i ra1
''It's twenty-five years since T wasi nai
ed up. Bill, my boy. and I trust you'll?]
11. of course, the rough goes with the
looth.' " j inc
THE ERROR. !
{JXATOR Depew, at a reception in fla'
Washington, was discussing an error i bli
at iiad been made in the first arrange-y *
>nts of the N'ew York-Paris automobile
A
'The error was ultimately corrected." lie ;
id, "and while it lasted it did no harm, [
y way. It was funny, though. It was
;e an error that once occurred on the wl
>w York Central. "A*?
'It seems that at a small station a *a',
ket agent had run short of tickets and an
is obliged to give a party of fishermen na
.Ives instead of wholes. Full fare was wr
id for these half tickets, and the agent -"a'
;nt out on the platform when the train
Dpped and explained the matter to the t|1(
nduotor. so that everything should be in*
1 right. up
'The conductor had almost forgotten 1
is occurence when, some ten miles fur- an
cr on. the front hrakeman came to him "
id said in a tone of bitter disgust. a <
* 'This here half fare dodge is gettin* nei
littie too hot for me, boss. Why, there's sal
THE
AGAIN3
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I I
I s
' | tc
LLEB Skating J2JNK 2
ai
, ti
i u
ir's furlough to rest. His idea of1 f<
ting was making an exhaustive study ! si
the methods and appliances of the j li
it European institutions for the in- (J
WELL-KNOW!
j
bunch of children up in smoker what : t!
iys poker, drinks whisky and wear.* a
liskers.' " 11
li
GOING UP. f<
IISS E. E. Todd, the talented young,
New York woman, who. having inited
an aeroplane, has abandoned the j J
jewriting business and begun the for- ; p|
.tion of an aeroplane building company, ,.
s congratulated the other day on her 1
inged circumstances.
It is rather a rise, isn't it?" she said.
- - - . . rl
otnething like the rise of a lawyer 1 , "
:e knew. j
'I don't see young Lawyer Browne at i D
, any more,' said a lady at a tea. 'He jf
3 unite dropped out of our set.' i lr
'Lawyer Browne tells a different story
nself." said a second lady. ' ,
'Indeed? What does he say?'
'He says he lias climbed out of it.' "
o
A POPULAR PERIODICAL. a
t('K London, tthe writer, was talking yi
in San Francisco about the desertion
his crew. Mr. London, as all the world j s'
ows. is circling tlie world in a small j n
it, and his crew deserted at Honolulu
account of the dullness of the life. a
They are grpatly bored," said Mr. Lonn.
"They had a look of ennui all the
ie. What did they expect? They acted
if they expected a periodical shipwreck, t
leriodical onslaught of cannibals, a pe- j JL
dical rescue of some fair girl from pi- j a
Of rr*l>*-k*r nrAHi'. t*0 t l\OI' lil/a O r? '
i u'.\v w * i * i nim ? cv iiitui
meri Samson w.hom I on op know. ? | ..
A book agent railed on Samson's wife. j
'Do you take many periodicals?' he j w
luired. ; t'i
'Oh. no.' she replied. .'I never take G
y. But my husband. I'm sorry to say. p,
ces a periodical about once every ten
os. Are you a temperance worker,
ei
ft
A HAPPY STATE. y;
A New York editor laid down a let- "
. ter with a laugh. j t)
A letter from \V. W. Jacohs. the Eng- | to
h humorist." he said, "declining to f
!it
ite me a Christmas story at a dollar a I ni
>rd. That was not what made me j j,j
igh. though. ! 01
Air. Jacobs tells me in this letter about pi
American correspondent of his own a;
me. The American, \V. \V. Jacobs, u]
ote to the English one recently. it?d
he, too, aspired to literary laurels, ! lv
t so far withotit success. He had a | w
jposition to make. He proposed that j tl
> two work in partnership, lie supply- j tl
t the Ideas, the other writing the ideas I
; H
Tie editor took" up Mr. Jacobs' letter I w
d read from it:
' 'My American namesake then toxi of tl
iream he had had. in which this partrship
arrangement evidently nswered
Lisfactorily; so satisfactorily, indeed, ti
)
:?LB
j^XK:
, Isil
Iampe&LL
????????
fe,v ^c^^^SBSL sfcw sswbss
;. \fr, '
cZ&2?y2> GW&msts
ruction of the blind. Then, with
ad parked full of Ideas for a mode
fctitutlon for the blind.' he turned hi
ice homeward. He arrived in Londo
tne 211, 1S71. He was booked to sa
om Liverpool three days later.
m
* *
The great life work for which he ha
idergone such a rigorous training la
ose at hand, but he had not then th
intest Idea of it. It was ,in the guis
' an entire stranger that destiny inter
ned to keep him in Kngland. Th
ranger was staying at the same hotel
nl noting that Dr. Campbell was blinc
id him that he was going to a te
.rty for the blind next day and aske<
m if he would like to attend. Th
merman said he wotftd be very glari
u: for that casual meeting and invi
tiori I)r. Campbell would have returne
i America.
He went to the tea party. It was nm
' those stereotyped, charitable affairs
here the afflicted, in return for tei
n.t raki>s evnress with unetuous piet'
reir gratitude to the donors. Hut it
liking to Hr. Campbell, it fellow suf
jrer, they threw aside the mask am
jokfl freely of the depressing am
opeless monotony of their lot. Dt
ampbell learned that of sightles
^ PEOPLE
iat publishers' checks came in so fas
nd furious that the majority of ther
ad to l>e returned as "unavailable"?
appy state which none of us, or ver
w, ever reach.' "
SHE MISSED HER VIOLETS.
rllKV must have been quarreling ove
something?he and she?on Connect!
jt avenue the other day. for she was dis
nctly heard to say: "Oh. very well, ther
you think that way about it "
He turned <>n his l:eei and sue ten 1
ie opposite direction.
But remorse evidently entered th
reast of the young Lothario, for he hesi
ited a moment, then turned resolutel
ito one of the florist shops.
"Miss prefers violets with lilies c
te valleys." suggested the florist, adroit
*, when the young man, who seemed a
ne in a dream, hesitated in his choic
f flowers.
"Site dees!" he exclaimed sharplj
wakening from his lethargy. "How d
on know that?"
"How do?how do I know?" faltered th
nrprised florist, "why?at least that 1
hat most of the other young gentle
ten send her."
"Humph! "She'll get no violets fror
ie! Send tarnations!" and he hange
ie door.
IN PRAISE OF PAJAMAS.
j'DDIE Hoy, the eminent comedian, at
* theatrical supper in New York mad
funny speech in praise of pajamas.
"Always wear pajamas," he begat
Never wear a nightshirt. I have neve
nrn nightshirts since I heard the hoi
hie experience that Fritz Sausage,
erman waiter of Chicago, had with th
fsky things.
"Fritz Sausage used to come home ever
<rening from the ?-afe with his pocket
ill of ilimes and .quarters?his day's tips
m know. His wife, after lie had falle
deep, would get up and raid that silve
due. Fritz said nothing, though h
louglit it was an unkind thing for he
i do.
"At last he decided he wouldn't stan
lose nocturnal raids any longer. So. th
>>:t night he came home he waited tl
is wife was asleep, and then he got u
it of bed, took all the silver from hi
ickets, climbed back under the sheet
s?ain and very quietly tied the mone
l> in a comer of his nightshirt.
"Then he smiled to himself. He couldn'
dp thinking of how disappointed hi
ife would be when she tiptoed acroa
te dark room in the eoid. and wen
irougil his pockets and found nothing
"He fell asleep as happy as a chile
e awoke In broad daylight. He wif
as bending over him tenderly.
" 'Oh, Fritz.' she said, "thank you fo
:e present.'
" 'What. present?' said he.
" 'Why,' said his wife, 'all that mone
ed in my nightie ' "
I
>.
mm, i^S^^K8Bxg]&$C
persons then in Dondon 2.700 were dependent?on
chnritahle relief.
"Before I left the meeting:." said Dr.
Campbell, "the burden of the blind poor
In the great metropolis rested heavily
upon me."
The tea party led to a meeting next
day with Dr. Armitage. the founder of
tlie British and Foreign Blind Association.
and the mainstay of the Indigent
Blind Visiting Association. The two
men put their heads- together and discovered
that they had the same notions
about the best way to deal with the
problem of the blind. The idea of starting
an institution which should embody
these ideas was discussed between
them. And the ship sailed from LiverI
pool without Dr. Campbell. The man
and his work had met.
*
* *
There is no space to tell the story of
1 ~ ? ? ?,??..ldA?'i?;nl int.M>\?Antioria
in*' Brrniui^ yi v men i i?xi nun
by which tlie money necessary to make
a start was obtained. The present magnificent
collepe at Norwood, near the
t'rystal Palace, standing In sixteen
acres of beautiful grounds, was begun
with three small houses. One of the
pleasantest experiences of the writer's
life was the visit which he made to It
not long ago. But of such absorbing Interest
is the life story of the man to
i whom it is a more splendid monument
| than Westminster Abbey could afford
that there is but little space 111 which
i to describe it.
Dr. Campbell is a little man, now seventy-four
years old. gray and grizzled,
but brimful of energy and vitality. In
his conversation there was never a note
- of repining over the affliction which had
a made his life one long night. He had
.jj found abundant happiness in his work. It
IS: would have been pardonable if he had
a ; shown some vanity in speaking of it. but
11 | there was not a trace of it. There was
only great joy that he had been able to
' do it. With such ease and celerity did he
j move about from place to place that it
^ j was difficult to believe the dark-colored
; spectacles which he wore screened sight
I less eyes.
? One vUlts an institution for the blind
e with the expectation of having feelings
_ of pity aroused for the inmates who ara
laboring under such a terrible affliction.
* But it was impossible to feel that way at
' Norwood. The master had Imparted his
1. optimistic spirit to his pupils. They were
a the embodiments of health and happiness,
d " 'A healthy mind in a healthy body' is
p t our motto." said the doctor. "The blind
1. 1 have greater need of physical vigor and
[- vitality than those who enjoy the blessd
ings of sight, hpcause their affliction
makes the struggle for existence and a
a living so much harder for them than for
i. normal persons."
a *
y * *
rc As one watched the pupils playing nlnej
pins in the howling alley, performing darfj
ing acrobatic feats in the gymnasium.
dashing around the rink on roller skates
s ; nr strolling about the grounds the <Jifli
j rulty was to believe that they were really
i bereft of sight. By some miracle they
seamed to have acquired a sixth sense
which rendered sight superfluous. There
were none of those timid footsteps and
? faltering movements which one naturally
,t : associates with the blind. Whatever they
n : did?at work or at play?they did with
confidence and cheerful alacrity.
.. The gymnasium at Norwood is one of
the best equipped in London. Whether
male or female, there is no inmate of the
college who does not spend a portion of
every day in gymnastic exercises, which
r are so carefully graded as to bring 1ntd
i- j action every muscle of the body in turn.
5. As the result of the attention paid to
athletic exercise each pupil is said to de'
velop about two inches extra around the
waist in the first twelve months of his
n sojourn at the college. That means the
accumulation of a greit reserve force of
e strength, energy and vitality. It accounts
j. for much of the rapid progress they make
j in their studies.
In many respects the teaching is like
,f j that of an ordinary college. The curricu'
lum is a comprehensive one. and includes
,. j English and general history, composition.
e | li'erature, natural history, botany, physl;
ology. astronomy, physics, political ec<?n.
I omy. etc. Rut the beginning of all sound
,j ' teachings of the blind is the kindergarten.
I It is one of the most interesting sights of
- j the college to see the young people models
i ing in clay, learning to draw by the aid
l ? - ../J tobintr tlipir first l#?SSOnS
or Wires ami lani.m _
in plaiting. The difference between the
n children who have been taught in the
(l j kindergarten and those who have been put
1 into the classes without having had these
preliminary advantages is very great.
*
* *
After the kindergarten the next step
e l which gives manual dexterity and acruracy
in the manipulation of tools is the
Swedish Sloyd lass. The proficiency"
shown hv the boys is amazing.
I Of all the departments of the college tlu
I one which is of the greatest value in fit a
j ting the blind to earn a livelihood '.s that
e 1 in which they are taught piano-tuning and
music. On this department Dr. Campbell
y has lavished an infinity of time and pa*g
tience. It affords a striking contrast to
the conditions under which lie obtained
' his musical education. To carry it on are
n needed four pipe organs, sixty pianos for
r teaching and twenty-six for instruction in
e tuning.
r The best testimony to the efficiency of
Dr. Campbell's methods Is the fact that
d no per cent of the graduates of the
e | Norwood College are seir-supporting. ar.d
11 | many of them earn an excellent livelihood,
p I When lie began his work in England less
s than* 10 per cent of the blind in this
s country were earning their own living,
y But the immediate work of the college affords
only a small measure of the value of
t tiie work done by this outcast from Tens
nessee. It serves as the model for all
s similar institutions in this country. Engit
lishmen believe it is the best college for
the blind in the world. They have suh1
scribed over Sl.li00.00d for its support,
e King Edward is one of I>r. Campbell's
warmest admirers. It has been rumored
ir that he intends to confer a knighthood
upon him. But Dr. Campbell has won In
this land a prouder title than any big
y majesty could bestow upon him.
It is the "King of the Blind.
% "