A BLIND ATHLETE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXV, Issue LXV, 20 December 1913, Page 11

A BLIND ATHLETE.

Almost the. last: thing the; ayera«» man would think <*f the blind' as doing is running races andi playing outdoor games. • But it is a fact that the bliiiacan not^nly run and nimp^aiid swim, buY can kick a football and throw * c^cket baU about. The director «T the Blmd Institution in Sydney ha* <' been, drawing public attention to th»pha^e of activity of the^ blind, witW a,, view to inducing people to provide* money for a gymnasium and other »»► phances for physical culture. He poioS: out. that the programme of the annualsports meeting of the institution includes the following eveiais: High.

jump, long jump, 100' yards running, race, walking, match, swimming race boat race and tug-of-war; At the sports last year the winner of the 100 yards race ran the distance in 12-3^ ; sec, and: in a walking race three--1 quarters of a mile was covered iia 6miit 50sec. It was not without difficulty that blind boys were trained to;run, for it has been asserted by an Ameri- * can that to run at fullf speedT is the most daring act a blind person: can perform. At first it was foun*^ that competitors in; a race-crowded i» to one another or ran wide, with, of course, a risk \of accident v raa. slowly. lspw each competitor *un«--parallel to a rope stretched tightly bo-; v

tween two posts, and holds a handket^ chief attached to'a ring, which ruim;'? on the>rope. The blind boy, guided By the handkerchief and ring,, runitstraight and with confidence/ : .TB^a' Sydney institution seems to haVe fceei. the -first ti> use this ingenious method, '.-*, which; has since , been adopted^ in- 1 America. The director emphasises thebenefit to blind boys and- girls/;'<£, -ekdßr^ '•' cisc of various kinds'■ Most of theiatV: are below, the average physically. "VTh«* loss of sight iit itself t^s^Tendef^; A. them inert;and timidv $Ps, ftp if^ifiwr^ were not;enojigh^ their fnenSs; *lli|<»wiv freguentty^vm mi3takett \k|iKlhe worseivstilli ;f^keT)i?;';'w^.'.; '^--'V fare, fallow them^t64m^\i^oiii'^QA''.''ri housed and r , in the case of the younger- , blind, they wait upon them, dress tlieip* and even feed them, instead Of teacKinec them to do most th^hgs^fpriKeinselves ,and seeing that they fget rplenty- ! of recreation out in the sunshine an*

open air.'? They should be encouraged it) every possible way to cultivate confidence and self-reliance. i