HOW THE BLIND LIVE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 120, 16 November 1929, Page 31

HOW THE BLIND LIVE

THEIR GIFT FOE 'MUSIC

A MINT COIN TESTER

A blind man; is employed at the Royal Mint to test coins by their sound. This is one of tho interesting facts contained in a report issued recently by the health section of tho League of Nations, states tho London "Daily Telegraph. "^ The report, based principally on the replies of twenty-sis Governments to a questionnaire suggested by the British Government, gives details of the ways in which blind people overcome their handicap and succeed in earning a living. The first institution' for the blind in England was established at Liverpool in 1791, and now welfare organisations exist everywhere, the Blind Persons Act, 1920, having imposed on local authorities the duty of providing for such persons. In Egypt, where trachoma is very prevalent, there are 1325 blind persons per 100.000 of the population. In the countries dealt with in the report thcro are 801.443 blind persons, or 104 per 100,000 of the population. FINDING "SELF-EXPRESSION. The systematic campaign in most countries during the past twenty years has greatly reduced infantile blindness, the report states, but there are still enough blind children under five .to make it desirable to have a definite policy for their care.. One of the difficulties encountered in the development of services for young children is lack of knowledge of their existence and some system of registration other than Census returns is necessary. Dealing with the education of the blind, the report states that music is widely regarded as a subject peculiarly suitable for the blind, and one for which they are believed to have special' aptitude. The latter belief was probably not well founded, but, as a means of livelihood, music .afforded special opportunities to the blind, and was the art in which they could best find selfexpression. The musical profession was, unfortunately, overcrowded, and long study and high efficiency were necessary to secure remunerative employment. ' . ' There was some reason to doubt whether- the blind wore naturally more musical than sighted people, but the handicap of blindness was felt less in music than in any other art, and many blind persons earned-, a living as organists. . , ■ - Statistics showed that in 1927 there were in Great Britain 1400 of a blind population of 46,000 who had not re: ceiyed vocational training. In recent years massage had been greatly developed as a profession for the blind, and a number of soldiers blinded in the war had becomo successful masseurs. EARNING CAPACITY. It had been estimated that blindness reduced the earning capacity of the worker by between 50 and 66 per cent. Workshop provision had been highly developed in Great Britain. Particularly in England and America, blind people were employed as telephone operators, but the growth of tho automatic telephone might eventually deprive the blind of that employment. War-blinded men had been ongaged by English firms as earphone testers, and the" Eoyal Mint had employed a blind man to test coins by their sound. A number of blind short-hand-typists were in employ of the L.C.C. and the Ministry of Health. Boot and shoe making, was one of the earliest occupations to' be attempted by the blind, but experience bad shown that it was rather beyond the capacity of the. ordinary blind workman. In many countries research was being made with a view to finding new industries for the blind; Careful classification in Great Britain had shown that two out of every three blind persons were unemployable, the majority of them being over 50 years oia. Blind children could be trained to play games, and tjalls which made a sound as they travelled through the air had been; designed. Blind children had become Scouts and Guides, and eight blind boys, from "Worcester Secondary School rowed at Henley Ecgatta. ' . .