Blind Watchmakers.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 29, Issue 46, 15 June 1917, Page 2

Blind Watchmakers.

Blind people—those who have been borrt blind—arc, as is well known, exclever with their fingets, hut it is not often we hear of a watchmaker who was born blind, and yet there have been instances of the kind.

A famous blind watchmaker lived at Holbeach, in Lincolnshire. His name was llippin, and though completely blind he could take to pieces and put together again watches of most delicate construction with the greatest ease and in quicker time than most watchmakers who have the advantage of good eyesight.

On one occasion some of the tiny wheels and screws used in Ins trade were stolen from him, but the thief was -captured with the property on his person, and Rippin identified it by his delicate sense of touch. A Barnstaple watch and clock maker brought up his blind son to his trade and he proved so skilful that on more than one occasion he detected faults in timepieces which other tradesmen had failed to discover.