THE WEEK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2761, 13 February 1907, Page 51

THE WEEK.

•; Kiifiui allnd nnor», allnd uplentla dlxlt." — J»ri»ii. '"•m<l aaitm and food term miui «r«r j«lo."— fan.

The newest departure in journalism is the issue by the proprietors The Daily of the London Daily Mail Braille. of a special weekly edition,

printed in Braille, for the 40,000 blind people in the United Kingdom. It is a magnificent idea ; but surely there is a fault in the title of the new paper, which, instead of bearing the heading "Daily Mail: Edition for the Blind," might with greater conciseness have been called the " Daily Braille." The Christmas edition of this wonderful little production has printed on its front page the following foreword :—": — " For some time the Daily Mail has beeq considering the possibility of producing a special weekly edition, printed in Braille, for the blind people in the United Kingdom. At length the great preliminary difficulties of producing a newspaper for the blind have been overcome. The Daily Mail Edition for the Blind is unique in the history of journalism. It is as momentous a step forward in the world's progress as was the appearance of the first daily newspaper. By its publication each Saturday it is hoped to bring a weekly ray of sunshine into the otherwise blank lives of the blind among us. All having blind friends should forward their names to us, and we will be pleased to forward a specimen copy to their address on receipt of l^d in stamps." The contents of the issue before us include ten pages of news of the United Kingdom, three pages of a diary of the week's foreign news, a page of "Letters from our Readers," a page of general news for the blind, anfT a page of chess problems. In case any of the readers of the Witness should desire to secure copies of this wonderful paper for friends afflicted with blindness, we may add that the address of the editor of the Daily Mail Edition for the Blind is " Carmelite House, London, E.C." *

Possibly the day may dawn wlien lhanlts to medical care and scienBrlght Da}* tine research, a blind man ftr or woman will be a pathetic the Bliud. rarity ; but at present the earth holds more than two millions of these afflicted ones. But synchronising closely with the issue of a newspaper for the blind tomes intelligence of the invention of a machine which will enable every blind person to print 5000 sheets a day in raised characters for the blind without the slightest effort. The Queen of Roumania, better known as " Carmen Sylva," contributes to an American magazine some interesting particulars of this new invention, besides forecasting the possibilities of the discovery. She writes :— " My conviction has been for many years that it is a mistake to make the blind work so much with their hands when brain work would be very much better, and their capacity for brain work shows where their real future lies. They ought to be the greatest students on earth, these two millions of blind people. They ought to be philosophers, theologians, mathematicians, linguists, teachers of language and music — teachers of everything that does not require the telescope or the microscope, and therefore doctors to a certain degree, masseurs with very deep medical knowledge. And toward this grand aim I have been making for many years with all my heart and soul; and now I hope to come before the world of the blind with something ttiat will let them rise rapidly to what I think they ought to be. In my house a machine has been invented that enables every blind person, young or old, weak or strong, to print 5000 sheets a day in raised characters for the blind, without the slightest effort. A blind printer, Theodoresco, had the first idea of it; and then a genius who entered my service as a servant, * but whom I made a kind of secretary from the first, as he was a stenographer and learned merchant, took the idea in hand, worked at it day and flight for a year and a-half, and now the

machine is so simple that any child caS in a few minutes* work it."

There are 20,000 blind people in , Roumania, for whom the A Xew Hope invention of this machine for promises to inaugurate an the Blind. era of hope and brightness beyond anything of which they had previously dreamed. With the aid of the inventor — Mouske by name — the Queen of Roumania has, after much care and thought, planned a city or colony for the blind, the scope of which may be gathered from the following :—": — " Most of the blind are adults, and 1 saw from the first the impossibility of doing what the other countries are doing ; we are too poor for that. We cannot build enormous schools that cost half a million for 70 b^ind children, etc. It would be utterly useless. We must begin by finding bread for the fathers of families who have gone blind and are reduced to begging in the streets and in the cemeteries. We have already 22 fathers who earn their bread by making chairs and ropes and lead seals for the sacks of corn and things that go over the sea, and nets by hundreds of thousands. We mean to build them small houses around big gardens, with church and school in the middle. We mean to lot the seeing and the blind in these families work together, have one large kitchen in common and one table, which is already installed in the gardes', and where Mouske and his family dine with the blind. As soon as there is one. kitchen and one table, the women and children can work the knitting machines, the ropes, the nets, and all the rest — eve* so many things, we shall find — and then choose the most gifted among them for higher work. I have one who is going to print Kant and Spinoza as soon as the first machines are ready."

It is the Queen's laudable ambition that, with the aid of this new Librarie* for machine, the blind shall the Blind. have as many books and as

large libraries as the seeing — a thing hitherto obviously impossible. With the new invention the printing of books presents a new way oCthe blind earning a living, and thus gets over the difficulty of the few books for the blind at present printed. With Mouske's machine every blind man or woman, and even an intelligent child, will be able to make editions for themselves and sell them. They can print as many editions at a time as they choose, or can hope to sell ; every blind person for himself, or a few united, setting six or seven pages and having one press in common. Already orders for 36 machines have been received from^Germany, for the -simplicity of the invention appeals to everyone acquainted with the needs of the blind. As Braille goes all over the world, '^yery, language can be printed on the machine : it was a matter only of a few days for' the blind master to arrange an alphabet in the Roumanian language. The Queen has had appeals for machines from all 1 parts of the world, including one from Adelaide; but she refused to sell the invention to any foreign factory, being desirous of utilising all the revenue possible towards building up the city for the blind, to be called "The Luminous Hearth."

Thus "Carmen Sylva's" kindly heart sees a bright outlook and a The Outlook happy future for her poor for blind subjects. " Much tke Blind. light," she says, "shall stream from the blind people's fingers from this day onward. They shall have as many libraries as they want, private and public, and these books will spread over the world and bring lifer and enjoyment to them all. ' Music will be printed in such quantities that there will soon be no production that the blind cannot read and play, in orchestras, on the organ, and sing with many voices. We shall hear all Handel sung and played by blind people ; and, what ia most extraordinary, we shall be able to make them books with illustrations, a« the press is so powerful that it prints a dollar with the effigy quite clear. . . . We shall begin a newspaper directly. Everybody feels that this is going to be a grand thing and a blessed one, and that I am going, to give back to the country ever so many useful citizens who were beggars before. . . - The whole world will soon change for the blind as soon as they can have as many books as the seeing and are .no. longer dependent upon the good or bad taste of the charitable souls who copy. . . . Many people are so ccuel in doing good because they do not watch the lives of 4,he unhappy ones enough, but follow their own tastes and judgment, which are often very limited and insufficient. The Theodoresco-Mouske machine is a work of genius, and will bring happiness to many." An excellent illustration of the manner in

which the judgment of a The Future person on a subject is afCeatral Otago. fected by his point of view is afforded by a comparison of the views respectively expressed by the Minister of Lands and the Minister of Mines with regard) to the principal needs of Central Otago. Mr M'Nab. after visiting the chief centres in the district two months ago, arrived at a very clear conviction that what is really needful is to fostet settlement on the land in Central Otago and to give the settlers the benefits of irrigation. In his mind, it is quite evident, the agricultural interest is the most important in the district. Indeed, the impression he took away with him from his visit to Central Otago was that the mining industry was declining. "Not at all," Mr M'Gowan says in effect. Mining . is still, in his opinion, the first consideration, as it always bas been in the past, in Central Otago. It would be hopeless, he declares emphatically, to expect the Government to bring in- water for agricultural irrigation. £\U£oses wbea, tbere. is not

Bfcfficient water for mining. This being the " opinion entertained by him. he suggested that the settlers should work along as quietly as they can until the demand for water' for mining purposes grows somewhat easier, when the surplus supply may be devoted to irrigation. We hesitate to accept the proposition that mining and farming cannot be carried on side by side in Central Ota^o. Sot even the fact, upon which Mr M/Gowan lays stress, that the water that is at present available is required for mining purposes disposes of the possibility of the successful prosecution of farming in different parts of the district. For there does not seem to be any valid reason why water which has been utilised for mining purposes should not thereafter in many cases be devoted? to the service of : rrigation. And if water can thns be made to fulfil a double purpose, a sacrifice that may fittingly be described as criminal occurs when it is permitted to run «to waste afteT it has been utilised tc meet the requirements of the

miners. It should not be beyond the wit of the Government to devise a scheme which, while adequately safe-guarding the interests of t-Up mining community, will secure the effective irrigation of large portions of Central Otago w-hicn only needs to feel the magic touch of water in ordter to be made luxuriantly fertile. It is, of course, to be recognised that tfae Government should not embark on an irrigation pioject recklessly or without having given due weight to afl the surrounding considerations. - But wlien the great advantages that will accrue from, the adoption of the scheme are taken into account it is to be b«ped that the difficulties, of which Mr iSfGcmtn seems disposed- to make much, will not be permitted to stand unduly in the way of its prosecution. The Minister of Mines holds that it would be to the interest of the settlers at the present time to devote some of their energy to the task of boring for water. It will be strange if a good deal of water ia not to be found beneath- the surface- in some parts of Central Otago, and the experiment of boring seems, therefore, well worth a trial where the conditions are at all promising. But, however successful isolated efforts of tliia character may be, we apprehend that the need of- a comprehensive system of irrigation will still exist.