THE BLIND.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 163, 10 July 1907, Page 6

THE BLIND.

(By Rangatira.)

The healthy, normal human is separated by a great gulf of ignorance and misconception from that vast army of Nature's unfortunates of whom we know little and think less. The healthy-bodied mind is curiously unable to grasp and understand the disabilities under which the diseased labour.

Take, for instance, the blind—the public knows there are many blind among us; it knows, aud is relieved by the knowledge, that we have an Institute lor the Blinu, founded chiefly by the efforts of the late Mr John Abbott. It knows, too, that the blind have missed the best things of life, almost all that are worth having—th<y Lave no zest in life. But until one goes to the blind, and'sees and learns of them, the sorrows and difficulties, and magnificent patience and effort which these among Nature's heavilyhandicapped endure and exercise in every common daily task, is unknown and undreamed of.

Of late years, light has been brourht into their dark world Ijy the infinite patience and self-devotion of people who have penetrated, by the aid of science and deep sympathy, the black hopelessness of those deprived of sight, and have brought three palliatives into the horrible desolation of their darkness—work, mind culture, and the power of self-support.

It is intensely difficult for the outsider, even a deeply interested one, to conceive the attitude of the blind to their environment. If, with bandaged eyes, you or I were turned into a black world to-morrow morning, to live and help ourselves, we should not be in the position of a blind person, for we should have both the handicap aud advantage of memory, knowledge and education. We should not have the peculiar knowledge of the blind which-is his only substitute for the immense capacity for and grasp of life given us by the possession of sight. That faltering, indistinct knowledge of his, gained by strained sensibility and concentration of thought, is the one and only bridge he has between his world and ours.

Mere darkness 'cannot put us in his position, for the confusion of being thrown out of gear, dazes us to such an extent that we make no use of faculty but fall back directly on memory and imagination.

Those trained in the care 'and understanding of the blind, say that the popular conception of the blind is entirely wrong. Mr Frayling, principal of' our Institute for the Blind, who was trainea at the great Blind Institution of Birmingham, says that the popular idea, in regard to greater natural endowment of sensibility in the touch and hearing of the blind, is utterly erroneous. The blind are not compensated for loss of sight by increased sensibility of the remaining senses. Certainly training helps them enormously in many cases, but there are some among the blind who cannot be educated because .the sense' of touch is so weak. _. blind person, like most afflicted people, is intensely sensitive in feelings, but this is a disadvantage only, as it, in conjunction with his inability to see, makes him suspicious and full of distrust, thereby increasing his own unhappiness and the difficulties of those in whose charge he lives.

Tact, sympathy, and a perfectly straightforward policy are essential in the management of the blind, for they are full of painful doubts and unable to verify things. Their imprisonment by the dark does not make them quarrelsome or bad-tempered, indeed they have a strong fellow-feeling, and as a rule they pull together excellently. In the Jubilee Institute this is oil the more creditable, as the inmates came from all classes, poor and rich, ignorant and educated. Once in the institute they form one class, bonded by a common misfortune; their btle world lives under one rule and one code, though composed of all creeds, and all temperaments.

It is difficult to realise the horrible loneliness of mind which overshadowed the blind before medical knowledge was bought to bear upon their darkness. Before Dr. Moon invented his raised, letter system of reading for the blind, and before institutions were founded for their care and education, they were enveloped by a misery of mind far greater than their misery of All they learnt was taught orally while natural quickness of touch enabled a few to find relief in music and limited manual work, but the 'W^^eii^oritsHiQfii-,

To-day matters are very different, Even hero where methods and training are far behind those of England and the continent, the blind are made happy and intelligent, and proudly self-respecting by their ability to partly or wholly support themselves.

All told, there are 53 names on the institute books, some of which are outpatients and day workers. There are 43 men, women and children residents, and the rest live at home and work daily at the institute where they are paid weekly, or by piecework. These men earn not less than £1 a week, others not less than 16/.

The charge yearly \s £25 a. head, paid by parents, Government or charitable aid, as the case may be. Food and clothing are plain, but really good, the accommodation has long been inadequate, and at present, while the new buildings are in course of construction, is far from convenient. For some time past, by the unsuitability of the establishment, the management has laboured under extreme difficulties, but these happily, will be removed when the fine, extensive new buildings are finished.

The Auckland Jubilee Institute is the only home for the blind in the colony, therefore it is a national institution, and demands a far wider public attention than it has received. Perhaps this is due to the privacy of the meetings of the trustees. Privacy, in the administration of public institutions, is not productive of smooth-running and clockwork regularity. Visiting days for admittance of the public, exhibitions, and a shop for the sale of blind-made work would produce a warm fellow feeling and sympathy which is of immense value.

The principal is in need of - trained additions to the staff, both educational and kindergarten, and it is hard to find people with the necessary qualifications. It is also extremely difficult to find employment and industries for girls, although they, as well as men, are marvellously quick in various kinds of work. Knitting and fancy work of several kinds, moulding, net-making, and music are among the few employments possible to blind women and girls. Men, by their greater physical strength? and more mechanical cast of mind, can do excellent work of various kinds. Mr. Frayling is using every means to introduce new industries, and to follow the lead in this matter of such institutions as the Birmingham and Royal Albert Memorial Colleges. At the Jubilee Institute matmaking is one of the most paying trades. The work done is first-class, and equal to sighted labour. A very fine example of these blind institute mats is ,to be found at the Tiffin Tea Rooms. Orders for such mats come from all over New Zealand. The basket industry consists of strong tradesmen's baskets and clothes baskets, and the rougher kind of waste-paper basket. These are equal, perhaps superior, to those made by sighted labour, but there is no fine work done, such as fancy basket making in delicate material and colouring, and this is a class of work the Principal is most anxious to introduce, as it will give employment to women, as well as providing more work for men. Halters, simple and plaited, are made in large numbers, and sent in large quantities to country customers. Just now tho Institute has completed a lar.ee order for the Loan and Mercantile Agency."' Nets of all sorts, railway oar* riage netting, tennis nets, fruit and vegetable nets, and hammocks are made here. In carriage netting the Government supplies the cord and pays for the work. Next month the strawberry box machine

will be started, so that tho blind can supply strawberry boxes for the coming season.

There are several pupils learning pianoforte tuning, and music and sinping are taught Manual training is given, and some of the boys attend the Technical School for lessons, but the educational training of the Institute is so interesting and almost marvellous to the uninitiated that it must te reserved for another article.

The cause of the blind is one which should be close to the hearts of all. aud undoubtedly would be so if the public knew anything of blind life; but the present system of semi-private meetings of trustees, unreported, and conducted on unofficial lines, tells against the encouragement of public interest. The average citizen knows absolutely nothing of the blind, their cause and management, simply because the Press is not admitted. All public institutions benefit by the pronouncement of that court of justicepublic opinion. Well, as the trustees carry out their duties, and largely through them earn the gratitude of those under their care, the administration of the Jubilee Institute would be simplified and improved if carried on in the businesslike, official manner of other public institutions.

The blind need more friends, more per : sonal interest, more pleasures. In their courageous struggle with adverse circumstances they feel the need of a brotherly interest.

The blind will not allow that their misfortune is lightened by compensating natural gifts in any way. They arc not aided in their hard life struggle by,any means outside their own efforts, ajfd the ..efforts of those who train and care for them. To learn to live the self-helpfiil. useful lives, lived by the inmates of our Blind Institute, they must exercise an intense, never relaxing concentration of thought, which makes possible movement, conception of objects, mind culture, and employment, in results, is not so far behind the efforts of those who can see and have good natural endowments. But what sucli an unceasing concentration of effort costs brain and nervous system, we can hardly imagine. For instance, some absolutely blind people go from Parnell into Queen-street, walking in crowded streets, without touching a post or a person, or stumbling over a kerb; yet they are blind, and cannot see light from dark, and are unaided by any extra natural keenness of sen*. Certainly their remaining senses become sharpened by greater use and training and a concentration of which we are incapable, but there is no natural compensation.

The blind learn to judge accurately by sound; they know when they approach an object by the deadening of their foofcfall. Also the facial nerves make them aware of objects. They can tell the difference between a stone wall', a wooden fence, an iron fence, without touch, by the impression upon the facial nerves.

The enormity of the difficulties confronting the blind all through life, against which they contend so,, bravely and cheerfully, comes home to the visitor with a blazp of horror and sympathy.

The trustees of the institute will do well to inaugurate newer methods of work and education with the opening of the really fine new establishment, so that principal, matron, and staff can do .their utmost for the welfare of those in their charge. Also they will benefit the institute and themselves and work, by making their meetings public by the aid of "the Press, as the hospital does. The flare of public light ignites the spark of human sympathy, wJiich is invaluable in public affairs.