BLIND LEGISLATOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19956, 26 May 1928, Page 2 (Supplement)

BLIND LEGISLATOR.

HOUSE AS IT IS " SEEN." IDENTIFYING THE MEMBERS. SOUND OF THE VOICES. EX-SOLDIER'S EXPERIENCES. Although he was blinded in tho war, Captain lan Fraser, the member for St. Pancras North, can identify two hundred Members of the House of Commons whom he has never seen by the sound of their voices. "I dislike intensely the claims which friends of blind people are apt to make," Captain Fraser said in a recent interview, "that tho blind are possessed of marvellous and extraordinary powers. What we develop is not so much a keener sense of hearing anc 1 of touch, but the faculty of using to tho best advantage the slightest indications and impressions which these senses bring to the brain. "Abnormally acute senses of touch and hearing aro simply the result of training, together with some honost Sherlock Holmes' deduction. The ordinary man doesn't bother to hear things when he can see them—whether he's near a wall, or whether the match he lights bis pipe with ip burning. But he can hear them, all tho same. " For instance, the other day I was speaking at a dinner. I heard a reporter taking me down; I began to speak faster and I heard him stop. I didn't know whether it was because what I was saying was not worth taking down or bocause I was going too fast. So I slowed up—and ho started again. - Those who can see certainly hear,.'just as well, but would probably not be conscious of so slight a sound, and would certainly not make use of it." Bow Ideas Are Gained. Captain Fraser says he has never seen the inside of tho House of Commons, nor has ho seen any of his fellow-members. "I have some idea of-the appearance of a few, like Mr. Winston Churchill and Mr. Lloyd George," he explained, "bocause they were much photographed and cartooned in the old days. Of the rest, I form my own pictures, based upon description and imagination, formed from deduction and odd scraps of conversation. Tho voice, manner and behaviour of a man give one an idea whether he is modest or assertive, hard or kind. Men and women usually wear clothes to suit their personalities and characters, and from these one can usually guess accurately what sort of clothes they wear. "My pictures of p*ople are always a conglomeration of ideas gathered from various sources. To walk along a corridor Holding a member's arm gives me an impression of his height and build, and these various impressions, coupled with known facts about individuals, form my ideas of people "When I come to put together my picture of any particular person I never know whether it is the result of what I've heard or just what I feel they must bo like. Take Miss Wilkinson, for instance. I know she's got red hair. I cannot remember anyone telling me so, although, of course, everyone knows it." The Lighting ol a Pipe. Captain Fraser paused to light his pipe. "You see," he said, "there's nothing marvellous about it. I hear the match strike. I feel the flame on my hand, and my sense of taste tells me when my pipe is alight. Then, again, I can tell a man's height by where his voice comes from. There are very few men whose voices sound above my ears, but then 1 am six-foot-three. r "Often I hear people talking about a man, or about a cartoon of him, and I get a very good idea of what he looks like. Sometimes I do ask what people look like. But, even then, it is very difficult to tell from another man's description. The best man I know for describing people is Mr. Mitchell Banks—probably because he is a lawyer. " Similarly, I make a fairly accurate picture of tho House itself. These dreams may be correct or incorrect in general or in details. Ido not know. But they aro my own pictures and a source of great satisfaction. I enjoy my lifo in the House enormously. Catching Mr. Speaker's Eye. "In the chamber itself I do not meet with any insuperable difficulty. I dare say I know about two hundred M.P.'s by their voices, either becauso they are friends of mine with whom I have often talked, or because they aro important or frequent speakers in the debates. I always sit in the samo seat in the House and most members sit in and speak from particular benches, so that apart from the voice itself I have the additional guide afforded by the direction from which the voice comes. " 'Catching the Speaker's eye' is a phrase which describes tho process of indicating a desire to bo called to speak. It does not involve my seeing the Speaker but merely that he should seo me. When each member finishes speaking and sits down those who want to join in tho debate will rise in their places and the Speaker will call names in turn, according to the distribution of the parties, prearrangernent, or possibly .to the priority of the rising of the individual. "I have to rely on my memory in making a speech, both as regards my own considered ideas and; statements of previous speakers. This' seems to servo me well enough, for memory, like every other faculty or sense, develops with practice. I sit in a corner seat, the nearest one to the main door of the chamber. This enables mo to pet in and out of my place without bothering other members for assistance or running the risks involved by climbing over a number of outstretched legs. The Corners and Angles. "The average blind man, if be takes the trouble, can fairly quickly find his way about a strange place by learning tho corners and angles of passages, peculiar sounds and echoes of halls, and so on. The sense of hearing and possibly an appreciation of differing air pressures convey information as to proximity of walls and inform one whether or not a door is open. These indications are by no means certain, but with practice one can proceed on one's usua' routes without verv great difficulty. "But'l find it difficult to find my way about the House. I can soon find my way if I am left to explore alone; but there is alwavs somebody proceeding in tho same direction who offers an arm. To refuse is difficult and uncongenial. "Moreover, the numerous members themselves, quickly moving from place to place, aro unfixed and incalculable objects. I know where Joe Chamberlain's statue is, and would not run into him, but T never know where I may meet one of his sons, hurriedly coming round a corner, looking at a paper."