8 Conservative *
indignation which cleared the temple
once will clear it again. "
At Atlanta , Ga. , recently , the presi
dent of the United States , pointing to
wards Manila , said : ' 'Onr flag is there ;
who will haul it down ? " If Americans
of today have not become degenerate
sons of illustrious sires , but still love
freedom and cherish the spirit that ani
mated their forefathers at Independence
Hall and Valley Forge , they will see to
it that it is hauled down. The Ameri
can flag was not unfurled to the world's
admiration as the symbol of brute force ,
but as the emblem of deathless devotion
to liberty and light.
"Flag of the free ! flaunt not the creed
Of men who war for gain or greed ;
For not the victor's symbol thoti
Before which subject races bow ,
Thy stars still teach us to aspire. "
"Oh flag ! baptised through thronging years
In flre , in blood , in holy tears
In freedom's name for freedom's fame
By the dear land wo love to name
Thy glory shall not be our shame. "
WHAT THE BLIND CAN DO.
11Y JOHN 1 . HUSH.
There is no more interesting subject
connected with the lives and fortunes of
the defective classes than the blind and
the story of the effort to ameliorate the
hardships of their condition. There are
two perfectly distinct classes of the
blind ; one is composed of those whose
blindness is congenital , or has occurred
in infancy ; the other , of those whoso
sight is lost after adult ago.
The first class , having either had no
sight at all , or having enjoyed vision but
briefly , to a great degree overcome its
lack. They have furnished numerous
remarkable instances of substitution of
the lost sense by those which remain.
Hearing and touch , especially , extend
themselves and assume the duties of
sight.
In Boston a blind surgeon took his
training in the dissecting-room , learned
the anatomical structure of the body , by
touch , and practiced successfully , per
forming many of the major surgical op
erations as skillfully as any member of
his profession. One of the professors of
mathematics at Harvard was a blind
man , whose genius grasped the whole
science of numbers and imparted it to
his classes unaided by vision. In Now
York there is a blind sculptor , who
modeled in clay what is regarded by
critics as the best portrait bust ever
made of Washington Irving. This
sightless sculptor modeled and received
the contract for one of the most elabor
ate monuments erected in that state to
commemorate the soldiers of our civil
war.
In Nebraska , Professor Bacon , the
founder of several institutions for the
blind , runs n largo stock farm , and has
made a competence by the breeding of
neat cattle. No man is a keener judge of
the points of live stock than ho , and his
judgment is sought by others in the
same business.
One of the great institutions for the
jlind in England was founded by n blind
American who first attracted attention
in Europe by making the ascent of
Mount Blanc.
The greatest boat and yacht builder
in the world is a blind man , Mr. Herres-
loff of Rhode Island. He takes an
order for a boat , with capacity and de
sired speed stated , forms its plans in his
mind , and then dictates its dimensions ,
structure , sailing plan and most minute
details to his secretary. When the lines
of the craft are laid by his workmen he
detects by touch the slightest deviation ,
and is noted among his mechanics as the
most exact and exacting builder in the
country and the readiest to note a fault
or a change in his plan. This marine
architect built the yacht which defended
the America's cup in the last race with
the British Yacht club. He arranged
ier sailing plan , the cloth she should
carry in the various conditions of the
wind she was likely to encounter on the
racing waters of the lower bay at New
York.
When the great race was sailed in the
presence of tens of thousands , the blind
builder of the fleet victor in the contest
stood on the deck of a steamer by the
side of his secretary , and , turning his
face to the wind to judge its velocity ,
would note its changes and repeat the
instructions of his sailing plan as to
what sails should be spread and what
furled to meet the changes in the breeze.
Of the thousands whose feelings vibrated
and thrilled as the fortunes of the white-
winged racers waxed or waned , but few
knew that the blind builder , standing in
everlasting darkness , watched the race
with sensibilities as keen as any and
that his sense of proportion , aided only
by touch , had brought into form the
fleet winner in the greatest race ever
sailed.
The persons who have become blind
in infancy have proven to be the best
benefactors of those whose sight goes
out in adult age. The latter class feel
the loss with a keenness that is pitiful.
Long in the enjoyment of vision , sight
gives facility to the use of foot and
hand. It becomes a gmdo to the hearing
and touch. When taken away , the loss
is a pitiful abridgment of the use of the
remaining senses. It takes power and
facility away from the hand , and re
places the firm step with a timid and
painful stumble. The juvenile blind
train themselves to walk without a stick.
They guide themselves by hearing and
by something that has been believed to
bo a sixth sense , which is developed in
substitution for sight. By this strange
and highly sublimated sensibility they
feel the presence of an object which
they have not touched or heard. They
know whether it is animate or inani
mate. In like manner they feel the
presence of a pit into which they might
fall or a cliff over which they might
Blunge. Their step is free and firm.
They acquire a knowledge of locality
and learn the streets of a city or country
highways as readily as those who see.
They acquire a knowledge of music , of
mathematics and of certain handicrafts ,
as easily as those with all their senses.
In the ends of their fingers touch bo-
conies exquisitely sensitive. Under var
ious sj'stems books are printed for their
use , either with raised letters or with
points on the same plan as the first tele
graphic printing. These books now
make up a fairly complete library of lit
erature and science. They learn to
write to each other , using a stylus to
impress the points upon the paper.
They use the typewriter with facility ,
printing from dictation.
Those who become blind in infancy
become the instructors of the adult
blind. They live in an arm's-lougth
world , bounded by what they can
touch. That is their horizon. Sounds
come to them from beyond its borders ,
but they are like sounds that might bo
heard below and beyond the horizon
that is seen by the eye. In this narrow
world of touch those who lost sight in
infancy receive the unfortunate who
lose it in age. They come stumbling ,
timid , and sorrowful , given to melan
choly introspection , hopeless and pitiful.
The seeing people around them can
comfort them but little , for instinctively
they handle them through the eye which
they have not. The scene changes
when they encounter their fellows who
lost sight so young that they remember
it but dimly , or not at all. They are in
the world of darkness and touch now ,
in the hands of those who know it in an
intimacy impossible to any who live in a
world of sight and light. They are led
through and around it by their finger
tips. Their timidity grows less. Con
fidence takes the place of fear. It
seems simple , but the first and most
important lesson to be learned by the
adult blind is to walk alone.
It is interesting to know that long
after the juvenile blind had been taught ,
trained and equipped for an active
place in the world , the adult blind were
regarded as incapable of relief. The
first attempt to temper their condition
was made by the authorities of the
Catholic church in France. From that
beginning the effort extended , with but
little substantial success , until those
blind from infancy were brought into it
as guides and instructors of their elder
brethren in distress. From that point
great progress has been made. It began
a career for the juvenile blind , who as
teachers and superintendents of institu
tions for the adult blind , found a most
honorable and useful and expert occu
pation for their trained faculties , and in
them the adult blind found their best
instructors , friends and companions.
In the United States many of the
leading institutions for the blind were
