Blind Cyclers in Paris

1895

A Strange Procession on the Boulevard des Invalides on Thursdays.

In one of the most aristocratic quarters of the city, where the gilded dome of Napoleon's tomb and the twin towers of St. Francois Xavier are sentinels over historic association, lies the beautiful Boulevard des Invalides, a long, tree shaded avenue, where sounds march in list slippers and the perfume of flowering shrubs envelops the senses. One plump shoulder on the charming drive is made interesting by a little grouped commotion every Thursday afternoon. Through an imposing iron gateway into the center of the street is rolled a curious looking machine of the velocipede order. It consists of nine largest sized bicycles joined together in a chain by means of nickel bars, the guide, the second, in front.

In its wake follow eight young men of about 18, dressed in a uniform of dark blue, with gilt buttons, flat, cap and heels, the pantaloons neatly caught around the ankle by clamps. Neat cuffs and collars and well trimmed hair show careful attention to the person. The expression of the faces is cheerful, almost gay, the carriage straight and manly, but gentle and unforceful. This, with a certain timidity of bearing, takes one glance again to see that the party is entirely blind. They have walked through the gateway, crossed the sward and reached the queer machine without guide or direction and commence at once that Masonic trick of adjustment of wheel and handle known to the bicycle fraternity.

Chatting and smiling, each of the eight finds his special steed and stands beside it. — Fannie Edgar Thomas in Outing.

Science Startles Us

1895

How Hypnotism Is Made to Help the Deaf and Dumb.

It was from the great New York Institution For the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb that the world first learned how an individual born deaf and consequently dumb could be taught to hear and speak, and now comes another discovery promising to be the greatest of all.

Professor Currier openly asserts over his own signature that he is willing that hypnotism shall be given a full opportunity to demonstrate what can be done through its agency toward the relief of the mute. He declares it to be his belief that wonders of which the most enthusiastic investigator has hardly dared to dream may be accomplished through the use of hypnotism, and, bold and progressive student as be is, is willing to afford every facility for a skilled operator to experiment on the line suggested.

Professor Currier almost took my breath away, says a writer in the Boston Herald, when, as I sat in his study at the institute looking out upon the Hudson, he announced it to be his belief that through the agencies of hypnotism a man who has been deaf from the day of his birth may be made to hear distinctly.

"The prophet of the Israelites spoke truly," said Professor Currier, "when he predicted thousands of years ago the coming of the day when the eyes of the blind shall be opened, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, the tongue of the dumb shall be unloosed and the lame be made to run and leap as an hart. My friend, this day is at hand. It is already here. Gradually a force in nature — a force first mocked and ridiculed, next wondered at, now studied and made useful — has been accepted by science. And now is heralded the news that through hypnotism the latent senses are to be made healthy and vigorous, and the nerves which from birth our ignorance has hitherto allowed to slumber in him who, through some defect in nature's processes, has been unable to operate them, are to be made to convey messages of the mind as electric wires convey messages."

The Blind Smoker's Cigar

1901

We are often told that a man who is smoking in the dark would be unable to tell whether his cigar were alight or no unless he could see the red glow at the end of it. So, too, a man with his eyes shut would have great difficulty in telling whether he were drinking port or sherry. Now, as I have been blind for upward of 30 years I am unluckily somewhat fairly qualified to contest the validity of this statement. I was a smoker for 20 years before my infirmity crept upon me, and I am smoking even now as I dictate this letter. In fact, I have smoked all my life.

To say that I do not know whether my cigar is alight or no because I cannot see either the smoke or the red glow at the end of the weed is simply absurd. The taste alone is sufficient to tell me accurately. The one is infinitely pleasurable and flavorable and the other exceedingly disagreeable and objectionable. Tongue, palate and odor are incontrovertible testifiers. I grant that the pleasure of smoking is lessened by the absence of the sight of the smoke, but only slightly, and to assert that I do not know whether I am smoking or not is as much as to say I do not know whether I am standing on my head or my heels. — Saturday Review.

Insane Man Clings to His Blind Wife

1919

WILL BE RELEASED FROM ASYLUM TO JOIN HER.

Love Keeps Sightless Girl and Mad Husband Together Despite Obstacles Imposed.

NEW ORLEANS, La. — Lying in the Home for Homeless Women, a blind woman smiles. She smiles the smile of expectant motherhood.

In the City Hospital for Mental Diseases, a man smiles. His smile is that of a man about to be freed of the charge of insanity and allowed to return to his blind wife.

Dr. Earl Joseph Vollentine, graduate of Tulane College of Dentistry, will not be returned to the Southwestern Insane Asylum in Texas, if Charles H. Patterson, secretary of the Charity Organization, can prevent it.

Dr. Vollentine, says Secretary Patterson, will be released from the City Hospital for Mental Diseases in time to be near his blind wife when their expected child arrives. Instead of allowing Dr. Vollentine to be returned to the insane asylum in Texas, it is Secretary Patterson's plan to start the little family on their way to Vivian, La., where the husband has been assured work.

Not Dangerously Insane.

In the opinion of Dr. Henry Daspit, of the City Hospital for Mental Diseases, the young husband is not dangerously insane. He is merely the victim of nervous attacks said to have been brought on by overstudy.

And then there is the charge of his blind wife that her husband was sent to a Texas insane asylum by his rich father because the youth dared to marry her.

The story of the blind wife and the alleged mentally deficient husband verges on the dramatic — even melodramatic.

The girl was blinded when a child. One eye was lost when she fell on a pair of scissors. The other was shot out accidentally by the wad from a blank pistol. She was sent to the Blind Institute in Austin, Texas, by her father, of moderate circumstances.

It was while she was visiting her sister in Yoakum, Texas, that the young doctor first saw the helpless blind girl. First it was sympathy. Then it was love.

Marriage Was Annulled.

They were married. Then, says Mrs. Vollentine, her husband's father interfered and had the youth sent to the Southwestern Asylum in Texas, saying that he could be cured of his nervousness in about a month. The marriage was annulled.

The blind child wife waited. Her husband was not released. She grew impatient. So did he. He escaped. They journeyed to Vivian, La., and were remarried.

The husband obtained employment as a boilermaker. They saved money. Then the search for the cure of the wife's blindness began. They came to New Orleans to consult specialists. They applied to Secretary Patterson, of the Charity Organization, for help.

Making no attempt to conceal anything from Secretary Patterson, the young husband informed him that he had escaped from the Texas Insane Asylum.

Ask Return to Asylum.

Learning of the young wife's condition, Secretary Patterson had her sent to the Home for Homeless Women. He communicated with the Texas authorities, who requested that Doctor Vollentine be held until a representative of the asylum arrive to return him.

When informed by Dr. Daspit that young Vollentine's mental deficiency is of a minor nature, Mr. Patterson determined not to allow the young husband to be returned to Texas without a fight.

"If Vollentine refuses to accompany the Texas authorities back to the asylum," said Mr. Patterson, "I do not think they can take him forcibly."

Charges Father Opposes Her.

"My husband is so sympathetic toward the afflicted. It was when I lost the sight of my second eye thru an unfortunate accident that he was drawn toward me. He read in the papers how I completely lost my sight and told my sister he would like to know me.

"He was so kind and attentive that I loved him. We married — and then his father interfered. They tore him from me; sent him to an insane asylum and left me helpless. My husband was determined. He escaped. As our marriage had been annulled, we remarried and made our way to Vivian, Where my husband was employed.

"When we saved a little money my husband insisted that we go to New Orleans so my eyes could be treated. We came and then came our present trouble. But thank God there seems to be a silver lining to our dark cloud. He will be released. Our baby will be born and then we will go back to Vivian and happiness."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 11.

Note: Dr. Daspit's name in the first instance (in the original newspaper printing) was spelled "Despit." But the correct spelling is Daspit. He's referred to in books at Google Books, and was working at the City Hospital for Mental Diseases just as in this article.

Blind Boy's Wonderful Feats

1905

Pennsylvania Youth Gets Along Very Well Without Sight

Young Stephen Mellinger of Denver, Pa., does things remarkable in one who moves, as he does, in continual darkness. His senses of touch and hearing are very keen. He works in the field. He sows, uses the rake and spade, helps harvest the crops, milks, climbs trees, and, what is still more remarkable, drives spirited horses and rides a bicycle.

The boy is as bright, and cheerful as any of his associates. He is able to harness a horse unaided and to drive several miles to the village, where the household supplies are obtained. Every morning it is his duty to hitch a horse to a milk wagon and drive a mile to Denver village. In this drive he is compelled to cross railroad tracks at two points.

Spirited horses are his delight, and two belonging to his father which are too wild for the average man to handle with safety are used by him without a thought of danger. It is unwise for others than he to approach these animals. The young man does not work, ride or walk in a hesitating manner, after the usual fashion of the blind. He takes a fast horse out on the road and gallops at full speed, turning out for vehicles and other horses and rounding sharp corners without pulling up. On his wheel he rides as if possessed of full sight, and can be seen alone miles from his home.

Balky Horse Starts a Blaze

1920

Kicks Off Hot Shoe, Sets Blacksmith Shop on Fire

SANDFORDS MILLS, N. Y., Feb. 26. — Upon his arrival in town, Abner Gesner, who lives near here, led his horse into W. A. Wirts' blacksmith shop to be shod. Mr. Wirts prepared the horse's feet without trouble. When he raised the left hind foot of the horse it resented having the red hot shoe applied to its hoof and began jumping and kicking. The horse kicked the hot shoe into a pile of shavings at the end of the shop, igniting them. Wirts had to call out the village fire companies to extinguish the flames.


Blind Coroner Enters Vaudeville

ATLANTA, Ga., Feb. 26. — Paul Donchoo, Atlanta's widely-known blind coroner, has gone into vaudeville. Besides being a coroner and a lawyer, Donchoo is an accomplished musician.


Take 585 Gallstones From Man

HAZLETON, Pa., Feb. 26 — Five hundred and eight-five gallstones were removed in an operation from John Koda, at this place. The man felt much relieved after the operation.


At 91 He is a Movie Fan

CALDwELL., N. J., Feb. 26. — Augustus Bogert at his home in Hanford place, Caldwell, passed the 91st anniversary of his birth. Mr. Bogert was born in New York. He is a movie fan.

A Blind Girl's Interests at the Art Institute

Chicago, 1895

Mysterious Old Woman and Sightless Girl Doing the Art Institute

They tell a story over at the Art Institute on the lake front about an old woman who goes there on free days leading a blind girl, says the Chicago Tribune. The old woman totters in her steps and her face is wrinkled. Her attire is not shabby, but it is severely plain and doesn't belong to this generation. The girl has a face as white as marble and her blind eyes are unusually full. Her mouth is expressive and a singularly sad smile nestles about it.

Somebody who asked the old woman one day tells that the twain live on Mohawk street and that the girl has been blind since she was 4 years old. She is now 12. The girl always, since she was old enough to know, evinced a passion for art. At one time she undertook drawing, but had to quit it. They say she plays naturally and sweetly. But her strong like is art in sculpture. The old woman leads the child among the statuary and reproductions of the various rooms, mentioning, of course, anything new. The girl has learned the location of the principal works, and after they have been in one room for awhile the girl will say to the woman: "Let's go into the room where ——-," mentioning what it is she wants to "see," as she expresses it. One of her favorites is the group of Amphion and Zethus chaining Dirce to the bull. Someone told her the story one day, and seemed to fascinate her, and she asked several curious questions about it.

But after they have wandered about the rooms most of the day the girl nearly always says to the woman: "Let's go and see the child that is listening to the sea." The work is in one of the corridors, and has been noticed with interest by thousands. The child said one day when she was told that the figure was listening to the murmur of the sea, and that it appeared to please her, "Then she must be blind." Several people have asked the woman her name, but she evades the inquiry, and when the child is questioned she nestles to the woman and makes no reply. It is believed that they are mother and child.

Helen Keller — How a Deaf and Blind Girl Talks

1896

The hundreds of personal friends of Helen Keller, the totally blind and totally deaf girl, whose development and whose attainments are nothing short of marvelous, and the tens of thousands who have become interested in her will be pleased to learn of the remarkable progress she has been making within the last year.

Not only does she use her voice constantly in communicating with those about her, but she has reached that state where those who wish to talk with her speak to her as they would to any one in full possession of all his senses.

Miss Keller no longer uses her fingers to talk to others. She uses them now in conversation simply to listen to others who speak to her. By placing her fingers on the lips and throat of those who are talking to her she not only almost instantly "hears" words that are difficult to pronounce clearly but she is also enabled to detect the various shadings of vowel sounds that many persons even with a keenly developed ear, cannot pronounce, after a teacher. — Demorest's Magazine.