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BEACON
A MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF THE BLIND
Vol. XV.-No. 169. JANUARY I 5th, 1931. Price 3d.
3S. PER ANNUM, POST FRKI .
Entered as Second Class Matter, March 15, 1929, at the Post Office at Boston, Mass., under the Act of March 3, 1879 (Sec. 397, P.L. and R.).
AN INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR
THE BLIND.
IT was not wholly a coincidence that in 1928 two proposals were made almost simultaneously
for International Conferences. The narrow view occasionally voiced that Conferences
were a waste of time, because Great Britain no longer had anything to learn from other
countries, was evidently incompatible with the larger conceptions of social service and
of patriotism which have been current since the war. Happily, it proved possible to
reconcile Dr. Strehl's project of a European Conference for 1933, with Mr. Migel's and
Mr. Irwin's plan for a World Conference in New York in 193 1 ; and the Executive
Committee appointed by the pre-Congress at Vienna has been able to meet in conjunction with
the Committee on Personnel and Programme which is making the arrangements for the attendance
of European delegates at the World Conference in New York.
From arrangements for Conferences to a plan for more regular international action was a
natural step to take, and definite proposals for the organisation of an International Council for
the Blind, working in conjunction with the League of Nations on the one hand, and on the other
hand with the existing organisations for the blind throughout the world, will be laid before the
World Conference in New York next April.
The Object of International Action.
The starting point was the resolution proposed at Vienna by Mr. G. F. Mowatt on behalf
of the British delegates, to the effect that the League of Nations should be approached and asked
to allow the 1933 Conference to be held under its auspices. This resolution was adopted with
enthusiasm and the Executive Committee was given authority to approach the League.
In the meantime, and to some measure independently, informal discussions had been
taking place with a view to defining more exactly what was implied by an approach on behalf
of the blind to the League of Nations. The recent publication by the League of the first Inter-
national Handbook on the Welfare of the Blind seemed to infer that the League was prepared
to take a special interest in the subject, and it was hoped that a permanent Bureau of Information
of " Blindiana " might result, and with it the recognition of the blind as a community and of
work for the blind as a social activity of international importance. It was agreed that there
was wanted : —
BEACON
(a) A depository of information.
(/;) An issuing office of information.
(c) A permanent office for conferences.
(<7) A headquarters for propaganda de-
signed to raise the level of work for
the blind in backward countries.
(e) A centre of work for improving the
condition of the blind in all coun-
tries.
Further consideration brought home the
importance, and the apparent feasibility, of
making the International Bureau a clearing-
house for literature, music, and apparatus,
with the object of facilitating and cheapening
the supply of technical apparatus, appliances
and other articles required by the blind.
The Approach to the League.
To carry out the resolution of the Vienna
pre - Congress, the Executive Committee
appointed Dr. Strehl, Mr. Mowatt and
Monsieur Raverat to act as its ambassadors
and invited Mr. Eagar to accompany them as
adviser. The delegation so appointed went
to Geneva in June and interviewed officials
of the League of Nations Secretariat and of
the International Labour office. Opportunity
was also taken to secure an interview with
Lord Cecil, the delegate of the British
Government to the League.
The delegation was received by Monsieur
Dufour-Feronce and Dr. Pantaleoni of the
Secretariat of the League and by Dr. Carrozzi
and other officials of the International
Labour office. The actual proceedings were
informal and private, but at the end of the
discussions a clear understanding was reached
of the way in which the good-will of the
League towards work for the blind could be
expressed. It was made clear that the 1933
Conference could be held under the auspices
of the League only if it were convened by a
body formally constituted at the request of
Member-Governments. If, however, the
League could " give its blessing " to the
Conference then it would be possible for the
League to send an observer to the Conference
and generally to " recognise " it. On the
other hand, if an International Organisation
for the Blind could be established and main-
tainea by private resources, so as to be
analogous to such bodies as the International
Institute of Agriculture at Rome or the
League of Intellectual Co-operation at Paris,
the League would be able to recognise its
work and co-operate.
PAGE
2
All this was rather negative or conditional.
There was, however, one positive and
immediate step which Mr. Dufour-Feronce
was able to announce, namely, that the
League would henceforth maintain, through
its Health Section, a permanent Bureau of
Information on Blind Welfare. The work of
this Bureau would enable the Handbook to
be reprinted from time to time, in order to
make it as far as possible complete and to
keep it up to date. A further interview with
Dame Rachel Crowdy brought the delegation
into contact with the Social Section of the
League, which the delegation found had been
carrying out certain investigations and pro-
ducing reports which had not been brought
into the general currency of information on
the blind. In future, any work done by any
Section of the League by the International
Labour office will be co-ordinated, and
through the Health Section brought to the
notice of the International body representing
work for the blind.
Practical Politics.
The interview with Lord Cecil, which has
been referred to above, soon bore fruit, and
Miss Susan Lawrence (Parliamentary Secre-
tary to the British Ministry of Health), was
able to report as follows to the Assembly
this year : —
" I may draw your attention to the
completion last year of the collection of
national data relating to the welfare of the
blind, and take this occasion to express the
hope of my Government — which, I feel
sure, will be shared by other Governments
— that the several organisations of the
League, including the Health Organisation,
will keep in touch with the efforts which
are being made to develop international
co-operation for the welfare of blind
persons. The international conference on
this subject, which is being planned for
1933, may give a suitable occasion for the
liaison desired."
Further help was rendered by Sir George
Buchanan (Member of the Health Committee),
and the way now seems clear for the Health
Section to assist in any international studies
of the Causes and Prevention of blindness, in
addition to maintaining an Information
Bureau.
All this was substantial gain, but much
remained to be done outside the limitations
necessarily imposed on the Health Section.
INDEX TO VOLUME XIV. OF "THE NEW BEACON.
JANUARY 15th— DECEMBER 15th, 1930.
Page
Aberdeen Asylum . . . . . . 273
Aberdeen, New Workshops . . 88
Achievements of the Blind 6, 26, 48, 80,
104, 128, 147, 165, 197, 224, 246, 272
Advertisements . . 20, 40, 60, 84,
108, 132, 156, 180, 204, 228, 252, 276
Advisory Committee, Report on Un-
employable Blind . . . . . . 8
Advisory Committee, Eighth Report
of
(Also see Scotland, The Blind in)
Allen, Honour for Edward
America, New Braille Monthly
Magazine in
American Experiment, An (M. G.
Thomas) . . . . . . . . 157
Announcements of New Publications
19, 38, 59, 82,
106, 131, 155, 179, 203, 227, 251, 275
dArtagnan, An Appeal by . . . . 100
Ashton - under - Lyne, Stalybridge,
Dukinfield and District Home
Teaching Society . . . . . . 226
Athlone Blind School (South Africa* 101
Auckland, Jubilee Institute for the
Blind 130
Audible Playing Ball, The New . . 203
Authors ? Where are the Blind . . 191
!MI
258
Baby Week Council, National
Barclay Home and School. Brighton
Barclay Workshop lor Blind Women
Barnsley District Association for
the Blind
Belfast Unemployables, £12,000 for
Birmingham Roval Institution for
the Blind
Blackpool and Fylde Societv for
the Blind '
Blind Engineer recovers his sight. .
Blind, Of or For the
Blind Street Traders
Blind Workshop Administration and
Management (S. W. Starling)
Blind World in the Thirties, The . .
Blindness in Post War Literature
(F. L. G. C.)
Bolton Workshops and Homes
Book Reader, The
Bournemouth Blind Aid Societv . .
Bradford Roval Institution lor the
Blind
Braille, On Learning (Sylvia Chan-
cellor)
Braille Periodical Literature
Braille Rotary Press . . 49
Brass Band, Blind
Brighton Societv for the Welfare of
the Blind . . "
Bristol Hostel . . . . 64,
Bristol Royal School of Industry 47,
British Wireless for the Blind Fund
Brooklyn Centre for Braille MS.
books
Bulgaria, Twenty-fifth year of Sofia
Institution
Burma, Mission to the Blind of
17
238
76
27
242
264
29
, 66
3
273
210
251
15
Cape Town Civilian Blind Society
Cardiff Institute for the Blind
Cardiganshire Association for the
Blind
Care of the Blind Child
Carmarthenshire Blind Society
Central Swiss Union for the Care of
the Blind
Ceylon, Mount Lavinia School
Chester Society for the Home Teach-
ing of the Blind
Christmas Fare in the South-West
College of Teachers' Examination
Results
Colour-hearing
Competitions for Blind Typists
Composers, British Blind (E. Watson)
" Concerning the Blind " 7;
Cookery for the Blind
Correction
Correspondence :
Blind in Japan
Certifying Clinics
Compensations of Blindness
Curiosities of Blindness
Jig-saw Puzzle Lending Club
Semi-Blind, The
Shadowy Fear
Unification of Collections. . 173,
Uniform Braille .. 122,153,
Courses for the Blind (M. Grant) . .
Croydon Voluntary Association for
the Blind
Cupar, Opening of New Premises. .
Delius and Braille Music
Devon County Association for the
Welfare of the Blind
Dog-Guides for the Blind (Harrison
Eustis)
Dogs, Captain Fraser's Views on . .
Duke of Portland and Blind Gym-
nasts
Dumfries Mission to the Outdoor
Blind
249
177
176
124
27
178
130
177
3
L50
159
137
202
.. 93
88
193
16
153
36
76
188
76
223
248
L73
2ul
64
Cambridgeshire Society for the Blind 200
Canadian National Institute for the
Blind 200
Candidates for Fxaminations, Blind 95
East Anglian Schools, Gorleston-on
Sea . . . . 45
East Ham Welfare Association for
the Blind 130
Education Week in Marburg . . 176
Employment — An Urgent Necessity
(B. Purse) 171
Ephphatha House . . . . . . 260
Errata. . . . . . . . . . 105
Ervine, St. John, on the Blind (from
Time and Tide) . . . . . . 77
Esperantists, 9th Congress of Blind
(P.Merrick) 181
Evans, Dr. P. M., Presentation to. . 24
Fifty Years of Service to the Blind 106
Five Day Week for the Blind . . 19
Foreign News . . . . 5, 138, 257
Friend of the Blind, A True . . 239
Furniture Making as an Industry for
the Blind (A. R. Bannister) . . 84
Gardening instituted for Blind Chil-
dren 3
Gardners' Trust .. .. .. 178
Germanv, The Blind in . . . . 223
Page
Gibraltar, A Useful Holidav in
(Canon Bolam) 163
Glasgow, New Central Clinic for 3, 113
Glasgow, Blind Employees in . . 164
Gloucestershire Association for Care
of the Blind 176
Gown Returns, The (F. Picot) . . 243
Greater London Fund .. 4,116,176
Guildford, New Selling Depot for . . 232
Halifax Society for the Blind . . 274
Hanley, Proposed New Workshops
for 256
Hangchow Pharmacv and " pills for
all ills" .. ' 258
Harrogate and District Society for
the Biind 273
Hartlepools' Workshops for the
Blind 177
Hastings Voluntary Association for
the Blind 101, 199
Helen Keller, The Later Life of . . 127
Helping the Blind (W. M. Stone) . . 133
Holidays for Blind Children (H.
Bergel) 218
Holidays for Blind Children, A
generous service . . . . . . 235
Home News . . . . 3, 23, 43, 64,
88, 112, 136, 160, 185, 210, 231, 256
Hull and East Riding Institution for
the Blind 212, 251
Hymn- Writer, A Famous Blind (L.
Rodenberg) 208
111 Wind, An 71
Impressions of the Esperanto Con-
gress (T. Forster) . . . . 183
Incorporated Association for Pro-
moting the General Welfare of
the Blind 178
India, Blind Relief in . . . . 5
Indigent Blind Visiting Society . . 250
Institute of Ophthalmic Opticians,
Conference of .. .. .. 137
International Developments . . 265
Island School, An 274
Japanese Educationist, A Great . . 87
Journalism as a Profession for the
Blind (J. Porter) 253
Kent County Association for the
Blind 200
Kent, Unemployable Blind in . . 185
Language Teachers, The Demand for 239
Language Teaching for the Blind (J.
Patterson) 238
Learning to Read . . . . . . 46
Leatherhead, Roval School for the
Blind . . .. 88, 112, 273
Lectures at Public Schools (H. C.
Warrilow) 1 94
Leeds Blind Persons' Act Committee 47
Leeds Institution for the Blind, Deaf
and Dumb 201
Leicester Blind, New Home for . . 136
Leicester and Rutland Institution
for the Blind .. .. 192, 199
Lener Quartet Concert . . . . 44
Liverpool Workshops and Home
Teaching Society . . . . 225, 270
Page
Local Government Act Contributory
Scheme "67, 71
London Association for the Blind 250
London Society for Teaching and
Training the Blind .. .. 190
Manchester — Henshaw's Institution
for the Blind 249
Marriage, The Blind and . . . . 186
Masseurs, Association of Certified
Blind ..199
Metropolitan and Adjacent Counties
Association for the Blind . . 271
Middlesex Association for the Blind 200
Montreal Association for the Blind 138
Museum and Exhibition, A Blind . . 119
Museums and the Blind . . . . 266
Music Memorisation by the Blind
(E.Watson) 261
Music Notation, Paris Congress on 5
Music Students, New Handbooks for 247
Music Students Competition . . 222
Musical Contests, Blind Entrants for 195
Musical Aspirant, Encourage the
Blind 49
National Council of Social Service 225
National Deaf - Blind Helpers'
League . . . . . . 201
National Institute for the Blind . . 220
National Library for the Blind 10, 199
National Maternity Service (N.
March) 118
National Notes .. 12, 30, 50, 72, 96
National Ophthalmic Treatment
Board 162
National Society for Prevention of
Blindness, New York . . . . 102
National Union of the Professional
and Industrial Blind . . 13, 189, 256
Newcastle, Gateshead and District
Workshops for the Blind . . 201
Newcastle, New Training Centre for 211
New York Lighthouse . . . . 82
New York Institute for the Educa-
tion of the Blind 47
New Zealand — Jubilee Institute
for the Blind 251
New Zealand — Night Classes in . . 5
Non - Industrial Blind, The (B.
Pursel 138
North London Homes for Aged
Christian Blind . . . . 47, 274
Northern Counties Association for
the Blind 27
Northern France Association of
Friends of the Blind .. .. 101
Norwich Institution for the Blind. . 225
Obituary :
Adams, Alfred 94
Boyle, Arthur 242
Brooker, Sydnev . • ■ • • • 58
Brown, Mrs. C. G. .. .. 115
Clarke, Amos .. .. .. 115
Deason, William . . . . . . 242
Gray, Sybil 26
Haller, Alice 58
Machida, N. 58
Power, Margaret . . . . . . 217
Readhead, James . . . . . . 94
Rockville, Dr 172
Rothery, William 242
Taylor, Charles 263
Tennant, John
Wedgwood, Major
O'Dwyer, Sir Michael
Oldham, New Workshop Opened in
Oldham, Workshops and Blind
Women's Industries
Organists, Bureau for Blind \
Organists, Employment of Blind . .
Ottawa, Sight-Saving in
Oxford, Society for the Blind
Page
58
242
239
199
9, 63
9
154
ITS
Page
239
21
Palamcottah Schools . . 5, 249
Paris Home, Fire at 138
Patna Blind School 47
Pedestrians and Traffic, Blind . . 265
Peking— Hill Murray Institute .. 250
Pennsylvania Association for the
Blind 47
Pennsylvania Home Teaching
Society 80
Personalia . . 36, 68, 105, 152, 245, 263
Pictures, Experiments in . . 215
Placement in Canada .. .. 143
Policy, a Progressive . . . . 9
Pontypridd Workshops . . . . 65
Postage of Braille Paper . . 13, 44
Preston Industrial Institute . . 267
Prevention of Blindness . . . . 95
Professional Knowledge and the
Home Teacher (M. G. T.) . . 69
Professional Touch, The . . . . 145
109
I 10
I in
Rationalisation in the Blind World
1. Criticism of the Unifications of
Collections Policy (G. Pol-
and)
2. A Defence of the Unification of
Collections Policy (H. Preece)
3. Personal Experience of the
Unifications Policy (S. M.
Taylor)
4. Unification in the Midlands
(C. C. Macaulav)
Recent Publications 37, 57, 102, 129, 219
Record of Useful Work (see Advisory
Committee, Eighth Report of)
Rhondda Institution for the Blind
Ritchie, Dr., on the Blind (see
" Concerning the Blind ")
Rochdale Society for Visiting the
Blind
216
273
St. Dunstan's
St. Helen's and District Society for
the Welfare of the Blind
St. John's Guild for the Blind
St. Mary's, Dublin (M. G. Thomas)
Scotland, The Blind in (Advisory
Committee's Report)
Scotland, Certification in
Scotland, Blind Tuners in . .
Scottish National Federation Con-
ference
Scottish Notes
" Seen and Unseen " (A. J. Cohen)
41, 78, 98, 126,
Sensation of Obstacles, The
Shadowy Fear, The
Sheffield' Welfare of the Blind De-
partment
Sheffield Royal Institution for the
Blind
Sheffield Workshops Opened 185,
Shorthand Machines. .
250
178
177
193
33
Sign of the Times, A
Sound or Sight (Sir R. Paget)
South African National Council for
the Blind (East London Branch)
South African Library for the Blind
(Grahamstown)
South Devon and Cornwall Institu-
tion for the Blind
Southampton Association
Spain, The Blind in (B. Aitken)
Sports for the Blind (G. Mowatt) . .
Sports Club for the Blind 65, 89, 145, 170
Staffordshire Association for the
Welfare of the Blind . . . . 130
State and Charitable Endowments,
The (B. Purse) . . 205, 240, 268
Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffs
Committee 273
Successful Blind Chess Players . . 230
Surrey Voluntary Association for
the Blind 199
Sweeping Change, A. . . . . . 71
Swiss Society for the Blind . . 82
Swiss Association for Blind Welfare 177
Tasmanian Institute for the Blind,
Deaf and Dumb 82
Taunton Home Teaching Society . . 273
Those in the Dark Silence . . . . 196
Torch-Bearing Tour, Mr. and Mrs.
Rufus Mather's- 1929-1930 (E.
Allen) 236
Trade and Industry . . . . 38, 70, 92
Trade Mark and Warning . . . . 49
Trinidad Royal Victoria Institute . . 82
Turpin Prize Awarded to Blind
Organist 184
Tynemouth Blind Welfare Society 101
Unification of Collections . . . . 95
(Also see Rationalisation in the
Blind World)
Uniform Braille . . . . . . 74
Union of Counties Associations for
the Blind . . 47, 114, 149, 174, 226
Unemployable Blind, The (1) .. 259
Unexpurgated . . . . . . 167
Village of the Blind, A (N. Roger) 248
West Ham Association for the Blind
Westcliff Home Opened
White House Conference on Child
Welfare
Who's Who in the Blind World 15
55, 81,
Wigan, New Workshops at
Wilts County Association for the
Blind
Wireless for the Blind Fund
Wireless Performers, Blind
Wireless Sets Needed, 18,000
Worcester College Endowment Fund
Word Pictures
Workshops, Amalgamation of
Workshops for the Blind, Association
of 27,
" World of the Blind, The " (M. G.
T.)
World Conference in New York, The
119,
Worthing Society for Befriending
the Blind . . "
Zoo, Blind Party See the . .
2 111
136
258
35,
105
3
250
215
215
L67
24
29
239
BEACON
An effective International Organisation would
necessarily be concerned with many social
and industrial matters and with propaganda
which could hardly be undertaken by an
officially constituted body. In any case it
might take years to get " Member-Govern-
ments " to move in the desired direction and
it was decided, therefore, to report to the
Conference Executive Committee that the
most hopeful line to pursue was to aim at the
establishment of an organisation maintaining
touch with the League, but independent of
it and not necessarily centred at Geneva,
which would co-ordinate, extend, and inten-
sify work for the blind wherever opportunity
offered.
from existing agencies for the blind in
different countries, and it became necessary
to consider whether some individual or
corporation should be approached. In sur-
veying the possibilities it was impossible to
leave out of account one existing corporation,
which is in fact already an international body
working for the welfare of the blind in many
countries, and at present paying particular
attention to the blind in those European
countries where work on their behalf is
backward, namely, the American Braille
Press, of the Rue Lauriston, Paris.
Considerable importance attaches, there-
fore, to a speech made by Mr. Nelson Crom-
well when he entertained representatives of
Mr. Cromwell's Luncheon to Conference Representatives.
(Reading clockwise) Mr. W. McG. Eagar (Gt. Britain), Mr. Cromwell's Private Secretary,
Dr. Carl Strehl (Germany), Prof. P. Villey (France), Mons. G. L. Raverat, Senhor G. Drugman (Italy),
Mr. Lundberg, Jr., Mr. A. Lnndberg (Sweden), Mr. Nelson Cromwell.
The Question of Finance.
This decision had the definite advantage
that an officially constituted body could not
in any case be expected to discharge all the
functions which at the beginning of the dis-
cussions were regarded as desirable ; for
example, it could not itself do active propa-
ganda for advancing the cause of the blind in
countries where their condition is unsatis-
factory.
Of the functions set out above, the first has
now been undertaken by the League and the
second to some extent. The performance of
the others clearly require a permanent office
and considerable financial support. Such
financial support can scarcely be obtained
the two International Conference Com-
mittees to luncheon in Paris last October.
Mr. Cromwell is president of the American
Braille Press and has already earned the
undying gratitude of the blind in many
countries. He urged that the forthcoming
Conference in New York should not be
regarded as a " talk fest," but as a hard-
working session fruitful in better organisation
and truly international aid to all sightless of
every race and creed. He went on to speak
of the vital need for an organisation repre-
senting the interests and necessities of the
blind throughout the world " with a common
purpose — intelligent, co-operative in fellow-
ship, in action and result Among the
PAGE
3
BEACON
blind there is not one single powerful, con-
centrated organisation but here comes
the opportunity, and with it the sublime duty
Now has the time come when the
blind must be represented by the combined
intelligence of men concentrated on this
object. Nothing can be accomplished by
isolation This is a common purpose
and endeavour, a common want I
join you heart and soul without limit."
This promise of co-operation with the Inter-
national plan formulated by the Conference
Committees was received with enthusiasm, and
we are justified in hoping that it will be possi-
ble at New York next April to form an Inter-
national Council for the Blind, and that the
American Braille Press will not only continue
its present work, but act in the future as the
instrument of the Blind World internationally
in a number of agreed activities.
Constitution and Scope of an International
Council.
It is clearly desirable that the establishment
of an International Council should not in any
way interfere with the work already being
done by the International Conference Com-
mittees. The Conference of 1933 must be
made a definite success and full advantage
must be taken of the work now being per-
formed by the commissions appointed at
Vienna.
The delegates at New York, will, if they
approve the plan, be asked to elect a repre-
sentative Council which in the first place will
act in harmony with the Executive Committee
appointed at Vienna and will henceforth be
responsible for the convening and holding of
other International Conferences.
Under such arrangement as that contem-
plated, the International Council would be
primarily a consultative body and would act
for a number of purposes through the Braille
Press. In agreement with Mr. Cromwell and
his Committee and with Monsieur Raverat, it
could arrange for the printing of braille or
ink-print publications of international signi-
ficance, including a periodical Bulletin of
Information ; it could undertake research
into technical apparatus and appliances with
the object of simplifying and rationalising
their production ; it could act as a clearing-
house of music and literature and generally
encourage and forward all fresh activities on
behalf of the blind.
PAGE
4
The propaganda and development work
of the American Braille Press would, of
course, continue, but by acting in conjunction
with the International Council it would be
devoting its funds to the services of the blind,
not so much as a private venture of American
generosity but as an accredited agent of the
Blind World as a whole. The situation is full
of promise. It remains for the delegates from
the world at large to go to New York next
April with a clear conception of what is
required in order that a practical plan may be
put forward and discussed in detail.
An International Council is needed. Lack
of co-ordination between work for the blind in
various countries is an obstacle to intelligent
development of work for the blind in any
country.
The people who live in darkness are still
numbered throughout the world in hundreds
of thousands and many of the practical things
to be done on their behalf can only be done
effectively through international action.
Monoc.
KENT
PUBLICATIONS
" Memories."
" Memories " (by E. J. Sillett, 226,
Stanhope Street, Newcastle on Tyne, price
is. id. post free) is a little book of verse by a
blind man, unpretentious and simply written.
The writer is evidently a lover of the country-
side, and finds in its scents and sounds a
beauty that is intensified for him " when eyes
no longer see " ; the song of the bird, the
fragrance of field and flower, the murmur of
the sea, and the movement in the crowded
street are full of meaning for his listening ear.
" Out of the Night."
" Out of the Night " is a record of the work
of the Hertfordshire Society for the Blind,
and at the same time an anthology of prose
and verse, with extracts from Shakespeare,
Henley, Barrie, and others, specially appli-
cable to blindness. It is illustrated with
sketches in black and white, one by Fougasse
of Punch being particularly striking, and its
letterpress includes stories of individual blind
persons who have been helped by the Society
to secure hospital treatment, holidays, pen-
sions, and wireless sets, or have been visited
by its Home Teachers.
BEACON
HOME NEWS
Mr. McCurdy's Gift to the Blind.
The Rt. Hon. C. A. McCurdy, P.C., K.C., a member of the Executive Council of
the National Institute for the Blind, has made a gift to the Institute of all royalties from
the sale of his new book " Empire Free Trade," recently published by Hutchinsons at
half a crown.
A Definite Attack upon Miners' Nystagmus.
Mr. Shinwell, Secretary for Mines, has announced the issue of a new draft order to
be submitted to the coal-mining industry which will constitute a definite attack upon
the terrible affliction of miners' nystagmus. It will provide for better lighting of the
mines by way of a minimum candle-power for safety lamps, a wider use of electricity at
the coal face, and more illumination on the surface.
A Pioneer of the White Stick.
Mr. Martin Henderson, the well-known blind musician and entertainer, has decided
to carry a white stick. The stick has been presented to him by Mr. T. Gregson, secretary
of the Whitley Bay Unionist Club, on behalf of Mr. James Hilton, and Mr. Henderson
says " I am going to take the lead in this country. I believe in safety first, and I hope
that the idea, already in force in France, will be taken up by other blind people in this
country." In view of the remarks in last month's New Beacon, his attitude towards the
traffic problem should be of interest to readers of this journal.
British Government Representatives to New York International Conference.
The British Government, at the request of President Hoover, will send two repre-
sentatives, Mr. John Jeffrey and Mr. F. R. Lovett, of the Ministry of Health, to attend
the International Conference on Work for the Blind, to be held in New York next month.
The other British delegates, and those from European countries, were named in last
month's issue of The New Beacon.
Mr. Churchill's Christmas Appeal for the Wireless Fund.
The Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill, M.P., speaking from his home at Westerham on
Christmas night, made a stirring broadcast appeal on behalf of the British Wireless for
the Blind Fund.
" The great Bismarck, speaking many years ago of his schemes for social insurance
for Germany, used the expression ' practical Christianity,' " Mr. Churchill said. " There
could not be a better day than this day of solemn festival, when kith and kin and old
friends come together, for an act of practical Christianity."
Mr. Churchill reminded listeners that it was a year ago that he last appealed for this
cause. He wondered whether the year had gone so quickly for the blind. Last year he
asked listeners to close their eyes for a minute. Supposing they had not opened them for
the whole year !
Wireless brought for the blind each night a pageant before their mind's eye. " That
mysterious lamp of inner consciousness will be continually fed by your unfailing care.
The blind will hear, and by hearing see."
Last year nearly £25,000 was collected for the fund and as a result of Mr. Churchill's
talk a year ago £12,000 was received. Radio manufacturers alone gave 1,000 valve sets ;
7,000 blind people now have wireless sets, and by April 10,000 will have them. That
was about half the number of blind people in this country. Another 10,000 were without
sets.
" We must have another £20,000," said Mr. Churchill, " and how easy. It only
needs one more push like the one last year and the task is done. The gift is bestowed,
PAGE
5
BEACON
the miracle has been accomplished, and the proud boast may be made by Englishmen in
Great Britain : ' All blind persons have their wireless sets ; it is one of the customs of
the country.'
" Many things make us anxious about our country. The most thoughtful men and
women of every party, and no party, are perplexed and anxious. Everyone would like to
do something if they only knew what to help. Well, here is something for all.
" The civilisation of great peoples is not only measured by the strength and wisdom
of their laws, but by the compassion of their hearts.
" Let it at least be said that in our island home, our beloved island home, the blind
are less unhappy than anywhere else in the whole world."
Subscriptions should be sent to the Treasurer, the Rt. Hon. Reginald McKenna,
226, Great Portland Street, W.i.
Up to the date of going to press a sum of ,£4,041 had been received in response to
Mr. Churchill's appeal, making the total amount of cash subscribed to the Fund since
its initiation a sum of £29,360.
E. W. Austin " Memorial Reading Competition for the Blind.
It is hoped to hold the tenth Meeting of the " E. W. Austin " Memorial Reading
Competition, at the National Library for the Blind, during the month of March.
Unseen passages will be read, and prizes awarded for fluency, ease of diction, and
general expression.
After careful consideration, it has been decided to alter the usual divisions of the
Adult Competitors, and to divide them into two sections, who will read different passages.
A. Advanced readers in competition for the " Blanesburgh " Cup.
B. Other readers.
The Junior Competitors will also be differently classed : —
1. Children under 9 years of age.
2. Those between the ages of 9 and n.
3. Those between the ages of 11 and 13.
4. Those between the ages of 13 and 16.
Competitors in classes 1 and 2 to be allowed their choice of reading Contracted or
Uncontracted Braille.
It is also hoped to hold an Open Competition for the reading of unseen passages
from Shakespeare. All previous winners in any class will be eligible to enter for this event
Intending Competi-
tors should send in their
names to the Secretary,
35, Great Smith Street,
Westminster, S.W.i as
early as possible, stating
in which class they wish
to enter.
The Committee con-
sists of :— Mr. W. H.
Dixson, M.A., Mr. H.
Royston, Mr. J. de la
Mare Rowley, the Rev.
S. J. Skinner, Miss Jame-
son, Miss Ruth Last
(Winner of 1929 Com-
petition), Miss D. A. Pain,
and Miss O. I. Prince
(Secretary).
Photnpress]
Capt. Sir Beachcroft Towse, V.C., greeting the Blind Babies at Paddington
en route from Devonshire to the new " Sunshine " Home at East Grinstead.
PAGE
6
BEACON
FOREIGN NEWS
Central Institute for Defectives, Mysore.
We have received an interesting account of this Institute for the Deaf and Blind,
which was founded twenty-six years ago by Mr. Rau, with one blind boy and three
deaf mutes. There are now 45 blind pupils in the school, and since the Government
took over its management in 1927 it has moved from rather unsuitable surroundings
to a large open site on the outskirts of the town. The industries practised are Braille
printing, weaving, rattan work and knitting, and a beginning has been made in the
physical training of the pupils. A visit of inspection has lately been made to the school
by Mr. Bell, the newly appointed Principal of the Victoria Memorial School, Madras,
and a former master at Craigmillar, Edinburgh.
Work for the Blind in Gibraltar.
An important meeting that should have far-reaching effects on the welfare of the
blind was held in Gibraltar on December 15th, and resulted in the unanimous and enthusi-
astic decision to form a local Society, acting in close co-operation with the National
Institute for the Blind in London. His Excellency the Governor presided and was
supported by the Right Rev. Dr. R. J. Fitzgerald, Roman Catholic Bishop of Gibraltar,
His Honour Sir Sydney Nettleton, Chief Justice, Lieut. -Colonel the Hon. A. E. Beattie,
Colonial Secretary, the Very Rev. G. H. Warde, Dean of Gibraltar, Mr. H. J. King,
President of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. H. F. Maxted, Acting President of the
Exchange and Commercial Library, and Major G. D. Jameson, Medical Officer of Health.
The room was well filled with a large and representative gathering of all sections of the
community.
Canon Bolam, a member of the Executive Council of the National Institute for the
Blind, who had come to Gibraltar for the purpose of addressing the meeting, was intro-
duced by the Governor, and spoke as himself a blind man, who knew something of the
problems of blindness from within. He gave a brief account of the work undertaken by
the National Institute as a publishing house for Braille literature, and as an organisation
whose special aim it is to help to make the blind " ordinary useful happy members of the
community," emphasising its freedom from religious bias, and its special interest in work
for the blind not only in England but in other countries within the Empire, and indeed
throughout the world. Canon Bolam went on to give an account of an earlier visit he had
paid to Gibraltar in June, when he had been put in touch with the work already done
for the blind there, and paid tributes to the excellent work undertaken by the health
authorities and to the wonderful kindness of the Sisters to the blind in their care. He
felt, however, that there was still room for further activity, and indicated the lines on
which he considered it might be carried out, stressing especially the importance of pre-
vention of blindness, the registration of all blind cases in the colony, the education of
the children, their employment in useful occupations when they grew up, and the pro-
vision of means for social intercourse. He felt sure that money would be forthcoming
for so splendid a piece of social work, and suggested that a small Committee should be
formed to carry on the work.
At the conclusion of Canon Bolam 's address a short discussion took place in which
the Roman Catholic Bishop, The Dean of Gibraltar, and the Chief Justice took part.
On the suggestion of His Excellency those present were asked to enrol themselves as
members of the new Society, and it was decided that the temporary Committee which
had arranged the meeting should carry on till a general meeting had been summoned.
The temporary Committee includes the Roman Catholic Bishop, The Dean of Gibraltar,
the Colonial Surgeon, the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, The Acting President
of the Exchange and Commercial Library, and the Medical Officer of Health, with the
addition of Mrs. H. J. King (Hon. Secretary) and Hon. J. Andrews-Speed (Hon.
Treasurer).
PAGE
7
BEACON
EXPERIENCES OF A BLIND TRAVELLER.
By the REV. DAVID GRIFFITHS.
IN travelling up and down England,
Wales and the Isle of Man, preaching
and lecturing in various churches,
what has struck me most has been the
never-failing kindness which one
everywhere finds. Being totally blind
and always going alone on my journeys,
I naturally depend a good deal upon the
helpfulness of others, and it is always splen-
didly forthcoming. Indeed the only
embarrassments I ever experience arise from
the fact that some people are so kind as to
wish to do for a blind man not only what is
necessary, but much more. For example,
some, not content with assisting one out of a
train, will actually proceed to try to lift one
out, as though one were quite lame in both
legs. The porter, too, in guiding one to the
next train, will sometimes try to put one in
front of him, with his arm almost entirely
round one's body. This is very uncomfort-
able. Besides, should there be any steps to
encounter, the good man will be quite certain
to say, " Steps, sir," when we come to them,
but equally certainly he will forget to say
whether they are up or down, which might
easily end in disaster. I therefore always
gently and graciously, but quite firmly, insist
on taking his arm, and on having him slightly
in front of me, then when steps do occur I
can always feel whether to step up or down
by his movements. But how excellently have
these fellows taken care of me ! During the
last thirty years I estimate that I must have
travelled well over a quarter of a million
miles, yet, relying on their kind help, never
once have I found myself in the wrong train,
nor at the wrong destination. This seems
remarkable to me, as I have three brothers
who all see quite perfectly, and who do not
travel in a year as much as I do in a week,
and, nevertheless, they all have been in
wrong trains, and one of them more than
once.
Of course people occasionally make little
mistakes with blind folk ; but if we are not
too sensitive, nor too ready to take offence,
their little stupidities, which, after all, are
never intentionally unkind, will only yield us
a bit of quiet amusement. There is the man,
who, in conversation with me, will insist on
acting, as though, because I am blind, I am
also necessarily stone deaf. And the other
person who, when you happen to have a
companion with you, persists in asking that
companion all about you. though you are
there all the time. I once had this experience
when taking tea with a friend of mine, the
hostess continually asking my friend, even
about my likes and dislikes during the meal/
" Does your friend take sugar ? " " Will he
have cream ? " Then, a little later on,
" Would he like some of this cake, do you
think ? " Still later, " What will he nave
next ? " As this occurred in a manse, my
friend, getting tired of answering for me, very
appropriately quoted scripture to the interro-
gator, saying, " He is of age, ask him," which
caused even the hostess herself to laugh most
merrily, after which all went quite naturally.
Then there are the people who give you
too much commiseration. " Are you quite
blind, sir ? " " Yes, quite, as a result of
scarlet fever when I was six years old."
" Dear me, sir, how dreadful, so you are
stone blind, sir." Keeping my face as
straight as I can, I sometimes answer, " Yes,
even gravel blind." " Well, sir, I should
think that to be blind is the very worst
affliction of all." With this, I can, of course,
never agree. I ask " What about total
paralysis, or insanity ? " Usually, the chief
difficulty such people urge about blindness
is that when one is blind one " cannot get
about, sir." I try to agree that there is
something in this, generally adding that I
find that I scarcely ever travel more than some
17,000 miles per annum.
In my opinion, no right minded blind
person ever allows himself to show annoyance
with genuine sympathy, especially when it is
intelligent, but we do object strongly to pity
when it is too loud mouthed. For instance,
a brother Baptist minister meeting me for the
first time in a drawing-room full of people,
addressed me as follows : " My poor dear
brother, and have you never known sun-
light ? " To this I laughingly replied :
" Oh dear, yes, they wash clothes with it in
our house every week." For a short time I
was rather afraid he might have been hurt by
the shriek of laughter which followed this
BEACON
reply, but he was a thoroughly good fellow,
and we became excellent friends.
Another little trouble is that, though
conversation is generally a great pleasure to
me, sometimes, after a long series of services
and lectures, I am too tired for much talk in
the train. At such times one is hard put to it
to know how to avoid conversation without
giving the impression that one is morose or
taciturn. The most trying example of this I
ever experienced happened to me on a
Sunday night during the War. During the
previous eight days I had conducted thirteen
services and meetings, and was therefore
terribly exhausted. My whole body and
mind were crying out for rest and quietness.
Being only a short distance from home, to
avoid being crowded in the train, I decided
to be extravagant for once, so booked first-
class, my porter fortunately finding me a quite
empty compartment. However, to my dis-
may, at the very first stop, a partially drunk
and very talkative Colonial joined me. He
at once commenced to fire at me a whole list
of questions, all of which I tried to answer
with as much patience as I could then muster.
Then the poor fellow began about my
blindness in the usual way. " Are you quite
blind, sir ? " " Yes, quite," and so on. And
then, " It must be awful to be blind, sir,'"
and I could see he would give me no peace
during the whole journey. This, in my
condition, at the moment, was more than I
could endure, and I simply had to do some-
thing to silence him. I therefore leaned
forward and said : " My dear friend, I am
sorry to tell you that you, too, will be quite
blind some day, and deaf and dumb."
" God ! " he exploded, " What do you mean,
sir ? " To which I answered, " When you
are dead, old chap." That produced the
desired result, and kept him quite quiet until
we parted.
I am often a guest for one or more nights
in four or five different homes in a week.
When I am to stay in the same house for the
week-end, I invariably begin by getting my
host or hostess to show me carefully over all
the part of it which I need to know, so as to get
about in it afterwards unaided, but when only
staying for a very short time I do not always
do this. One night, arriving rather late, only
just in time to begin my lecture in a town
which I should be leaving very early the next
morning, I found I was to be the guest of a
noted "oculist.^ He was a delightful fellow,
who took me home most joyously after the
meeting. When we finally retired for the
night, I got him to escort me to my bedroom.
Having got me there, when he was about to
go, he very kindly said : " Are you now all
right, Mr. Griffiths ? or is there anything
further I can do for your comfort ? " " Quite
all right, doctor," I answered. Then I
realised that the room was lit by electricity,
as I had heard the doctor switch it on when
we entered, so as an afterthought I said :
" Will you kindly switch off the light before
you go ? " " Certainly," he replied, and
then, " I suppose you will be able to find the
switches if you need them again ? " Con-
trolling my voice as perfectly as I could, I
said, " Yes, thank you doctor, I shall be all
right." After that, one can quite excuse dear
old hostesses in country places, where there
is neither electric light nor gas, who occasion-
ally most carefully give a totally blind man,
like me, a candle to light him to his bed.
What do I do when this happens ? Well, it
depends, if I am quite sure no one's feelings
will be hurt in the process, I explain that the
light will be quite useless in the circumstances,
but if I have reason to believe that the
explanation will lead to embarrassment to
the old lady, I take the candle, though it is
quite a nuisance, as one has to be so careful
to remember where one has to put it so as to
find it to blow it out without burning one's
fingers. One dear old lady even showed me
very carefully where the looking glass was.
Unfortunately she was rather deaf, but I tried
to make her understand that I should not need
it. Her answer was : " Not to-night, boy,
in the morning."
My chief pleasures on my journeys in
addition to conversation are reading and
smoking, both of which naturally cause
comment and question. People like to know
what literature is now available for the blind
community, and how it is produced, which
gives one an opportunity of imparting useful
knowledge to interested people. My hosts
and hostesses are often quietly amused when
they realise that I read far into the night,
without a light, and they are very interested
to find with how much more comfort a blind
person can read in bed in winter nights
compared with those who can see, as, needing
no light, he can keep both hands under the
bedclothes as he reads.
My smoking often causes much surprise,
PAGE
9
BEACON
even to those sighted men who themselves
smoke. I find many of them think that the
pleasure of smoking consists in watching the
smoke. Indeed, many have assured me that
if they could not see the smoke, they would
not know that the pipe was lit. I find that
this mistake is made even in literature.
Kipling in " The Light that Failed " tells us
that one of Dick Helder's miseries, after
losing his sight, was that he could not make
his tobacco taste in the dark. Stephen
McKenna also makes the same blunder in
" Sonia Married," stating that the blinded
soldier O'Rane passed cigarettes to others,
but no longer smoked them himself, because
he could not see. Once when I was smoking
a cigar in the train, a gentleman assured me
that when in the dark his cigar invariably
went out. His explanation was that when
he could not see the smoke he lost all interest
in it. He said that it seemed to him that
the great pleasure consisted in watching the
rings of smoke. Whereupon I asked him if,
in the circumstances, one good cigar would
not do for both of us while we were together,
suggesting that I would smoke it, and thus
get the flavour, and that he could watch me.
Yes, people do occasionally make bad blun-
ders concerning us, but as we are less than
one per thousand of the population this is
not very surprising. Anyhow, there is in all
classes of society very real kindness towards
the sightless, and I am quite certain that when
the educated blind man is prepared to be
quite free and frank, and perfectly natural, if
he moves about he can easily make a host of
delightful friends. Two mottoes which I
myself find very helpful are : " Think
kindly of everybody and you will generally
think rightly " ; and " He that would have
friends must show himself friendly."
A GREAT PIONEER.
THERE is a queer illogical
streak in many of us that
dates any movement from
the time that it came within
our own consciousness, and
so received the hall-mark of
our approval ; and some
people are inclined to talk to-day as if the
movement towards Prevention of Blindness
were something rather new. The recent
death in Vienna at the age of 79, of
Professor Ernst Fuchs, the renowned
Austrian ophthalmologist, should serve as a
PAGE
IO
reminder of what the campaign for the pre-
vention of blindness owes to this pioneer, who
taught and practised for forty-five years.
It may be of interest to look back a little
along the road we have travelled since
Professor Fuchs' early days, and to see some-
thing of the part he played and especially how
his work influenced English reformers. About
fifty years ago, an Englishman, Dr. Roth,
became the first Secretary of the Association
for the Prevention of Blindness in England,
and in the records of the Conference held in
York in 1883, to celebrate the Jubilee of the
Yorkshire School, he read an interesting paper
on the work and aims of his Association. In
it he mentioned that through an anonymous
donor the Association had agreed to offer a
prize of £80 for the best essay in English,
French, Italian, or German, on the Causes of
Blindness and the best means of preventing
it. Among the competitors was Dr. Fuchs,
then Professor of Ophthalmology in the
University of Liege, and when the award was
made in the following year at the Fifth
International Congress for Hygiene, held at
the Hague, Dr. Fuchs was announced as the
winner of the prize. His essay was published
in Germany in 1885, and translated into
French, English and Italian, the English trans-
lation being undertaken by Dr. Dudgeon,
who was himself an eminent opthalmologist.
It still remains one of the finest produc-
tions on the subject.
In it Dr. Fuchs covered a very wide field,
including chapters on hereditary eye-disease,
the eye diseases of children, myopia in child-
hood, the importance of proper lighting and
suitable furniture in schools, the need of care-
ful medical supervision of the schoolchild.
In 1885, Dr. Fuchs was recalled to Vienna
to take over the Eye Clinic at the Vienna
General Hospital ; it was then an incon-
spicuous department, but under his guidance
it gradually acquired the international repu-
tation it bears to-day. Writing of the loss
that Dr. Fuchs' death entails an eminent eye
specialist in Vienna writes — " Dr. Fuchs'
treatises on the diseases of the eye has become
the Bible of every ophthalmologist."
The newly formed International Associa-
tion for the Prevention of Blindness which
was inaugurated in 1928 at the Hague, must
have given Professor Fuchs great hopes for
the future, and one is glad to think that he
lived to see the cause which was so dear to
him come thus into its own.
cZrfieZ\fav
Published by L/ L /\ f I I rV Editorial Offices:
the National |\ 1^ /A I 1 I ^ 224 Greai Por'"
BLIND CITIZENS OF THE WORLD.
WE are particularly happy to be able to publish in this issue of The New Beacon,
an authoritative account by " Monoc " — one of the active movers in the
matter — of the progress made towards the formation of an International
Council for the Blind.
The present movement was set in motion by the decision of the pre-
Congress at Vienna in 1929 to approach the League of Nations with the
request that the European Congress to be held in 1933 should be held under
the auspices of the League. This decision was wise, for even if progress towards the realisation
of its ideals is slow, the League already provides the only practicable framework for effective
international action. Moreover, the League had lately published its " Report on the Welfare
of the Blind in Various Countries," the first compendium of information on the condition of the
blind in the world at large. For reasons which " Monoc " makes clear, the 1933 Conference
cannot be held under the League's auspices. But it will be " recognised " by the League, and
it has in fact already been mentioned by the Assembly, at the instance of Miss Susan Lawrence,
this year.
For the rapid progress made at Geneva, the Blind World is largely indebted to Lord Cecil
and Sir George Buchanan, and we beg to offer thanks to them as well as congratulations to Dr.
Strehl, Monsieur Raverat, Mr. Mowatt and Mr. Eagar. The League will henceforward main-
tain a permanent Bureau of Information on the Welfare of the Blind at Geneva and will at intervals
revise and reissue the Handbook.
But international action has advanced a stage further than that contemplated at Vienna.
The two Conference Committees now in existence have obtained powerful backing for a perma-
nent international organisation, and the Organising Committee of the forthcoming World Con-
ference have given time for this plan to be discussed in New York next April with a view to
establishing an International Council with headquarters in Paris.
Insularity is out of date. We in Great Britain have something to teach the world, and still
much to learn. The whole object of our work is to enable the blind to enjoy the full privileges,
and to exercise the full responsibilities, of citizenship. Citizenship is no longer interpreted in
terms of a narrow nationalism. Neglect of blindness, and indifference towards the blind, in any
part of the world, is a challenge to the modern sense of world citizenship. Any lack of co-
ordination by which the blind of one country are impoverished in comparison with their seeing
fellows is obviously something to be made good. The proposal to establish an International
Council with the object of raising the status of the blind throughout the world, of improving
their condition and of raising the level of work done on their behalf demands our cordial support,
and with all our heart we wish it well.
HELP THE SPORTS CLUB.
The organisers of the recently established Sports Club for the Blind are to be congratulated
on the initial success of their venture. They have gathered together a very enthusiastic band
of both active and honorary members who evidently mean to make the Club a permanent success.
Club colours have been adopted — Oxford blue and cream— and a badge is being designed.
The number of members is as follows : — 56 Blind, 20 Sighted and 38 Hon. Members.
These figures show that the blind are eagerly taking advantage of an organised Sports Movement,
but they also show that considerable more sighted help is needed. Every one with sight cannot
fail to sympathise with this effort to provide the blind with the very great pleasures and physical
advantages of active engagement in sport, and those willing to employ a little leisure time in
giving expression to their sympathy are asked to communicate with the Hon. Secretary, Lt.-Col.
F. D. Henslowe at 224, Great Portland Street, W.i. The Editor.
page
11
BEACON
THE UNEMPLOYABLE BLIND— II
"Idleness is costly without being a luxury.
dull work for those who are." — Horace Smith.
IT is alarming to reflect that 71 per cent,
of the blind of England and Wales are
classified as unemployable. We
imagine that this calculation has been
reached largely by reason of the age
incidence and without inquiring too
closely into the qualifications and
attainments of the individuals concerned.
Figures of this kind are seldom models of
statistical accuracy, and we are justified,
where important issues are involved, in asking
ourselves how far these statisticians may be
looked upon as reliable guides. Vainly we
have sought for a definition which in any
sense has been generally accepted by those
who are called upon to decide what constitutes
inability to follow such employment as
ordinarily falls within the capacity of the
average blind person. Indeed, the only
people who possess knowledge and experience
of value are but rarely consulted.
One would like to see workshop managers
and others possessing a knowledge of
economic problems more definitely associated
with the organisations responsible for the
so-called unemployable blind. Such execu-
tive officers might not always be in a position
to call into existence facilities for affording
increased employment, but they would hesi-
tate to classify many persons as incapable of
work simply because, through an obvious
defect in our social system, they cannot
immediately be absorbed. It is under-
standable that county or county borough
officials who have never been intimately
associated with this work should find it
easier and more congenial to dispose of their
difficulties by classifying newly- discovered
blind persons as falling within the category of
unemployables. Generally speaking, they are
unfitted by training and experience to under-
stand the psychology of the blind, and unless
they happen to be quite exceptional people
they will take the official view and conceive
their duties to be those of a public assistance
officer, so that apart from normal increases
in workshop employment, nothing will be
done to expand working facilities.
Prior to April 1st, 1930, when we possessed
a greater measure of central direction and
control, such tendencies as are here indicated
It is hard work for those who are not used to it, and
were undoubtedly noted, and a restraining
and guiding hand was sufficiently potent to
impede their growth. Government inspec-
tion was something more than a formality, as
many organisations realised. Now, in our
opinion much of that restraint will be thrown
off, and the most salutary effects of guidance
must inevitably disappear.
Before we can hope to secure anything
approaching uniformity of treatment we must
definitely make up our minds as to what
constitutes a practicable and workable defin-
ition to which we can subscribe without
feeling a sense of injustice in respect of those
non-seeing people who, given an opportunity,
would be competent with the best of us, to
earn their daily bread. It is not intended to
utter an unkind or unfriendly criticism to
suggest that no such definition exists at the
present time. Many and varied are the
attempts that have been made to find such a
formula, but a lack of uniformity is as pro-
nounced as are the various methods of treat-
ment, and this condition of things is neither
good for the community nor helpful to those
charged with the duties of administration.
One has sometimes been induced to accept
these temporary definitions as a means of
immediate escape from a pressing and difficult
situation, but emergency regulations do not
make good law, and the time is overdue for
concerted action to be taken. The Union of
Associations for the Blind might very properly
address themselves to this problem and bring
into conference men and women competent
to advise on a subject of great importance.
It will be generally agreed that the dis-
ability of blindness must impose a heavy
financial toll upon the community, but there
would appear to be no necessity to increase
unduly such a burden by careless and indiffer-
ent classification. To look at the subject from
this angle is perhaps to examine the position
from the least worthy motives : surely we
have a duty to perform towards those whom
we are relegating to a life of indolence. It is
a decision which should never be lightly made,
for to the sensitive man or woman its impli-
cations must portend a tragedy of the first
magnitude. Somewhere Burke has said :
" Labour is not only requisite to preserve the
PAGE
12
BEACON
coarser organs in a fit state for their functions,
but it is equally necessary to those finer and
more delicate organs on which and by which
the imagination and perhaps the other mental
powers act."
We are constrained to think that given the
correct mental attitude in a properly regulated
society, few people will be found to be
incapable of undertaking some useful work
or performing some essential function neces-
sary to the well-being of the community. Our
civilisation has not yet attained such an
altitude, but by the elimination of those
factors which hinder the growth of true
citizenship we are making a sensible contri-
bution towards the realisation of that ideal.
It is undoubtedly true that many people
are to be found who experience no feeling of
compunction when public relief is provided
for them. For some inexplicable reason they
appear to imagine that they possess an indis-
putable claim to be so maintained. A certain
school of thought is assiduous in its attempts
to foist this notion upon the public by con-
tending that the disability of blindness
entitles those so handicapped to be fully
maintained by the State. Real citizenship
cannot be secured, however, unless the com-
ponent parts of the State make a practical
contribution towards its growth and main-
tenance, and although citizens may differ in
the degree of capacity which they may bring
to the common stock, reasonable tribute must
be levied upon all. Those who desire to be
relieved of their legitimate obligations have
lost the sense of communal pride ; they are
the degenerates of our social system, to whom
must be administered the salutary influences
of wholesome employment, the true discip-
linary corrective.
Those whom we classify as unemployable,
therefore, should be persons of whose
physical or mental unfitness for the perform-
ance of useful labour we can entertain no
doubt. Unless we are prepared to see the
growth of public expenditure on this service
outstrip all reasonable bounds, we must be
far more vigilant in the future, taking care
that economic earnings are not supplanted by
public relief. In the interests of those who
desire to maintain both their citizenship and
their independence we must see to it that the
rent of ability secures its just reward, so that
a life of industry may always be preferred to
a condition of enforced or culpable idleness.
OBITUARY
We deeply regret to report the death of :—
H.R.H. Princess Royal, on January 4th.
Her Royal Highness was greatly interested in
the welfare of the blind, and was Patron of the
Greater London Fund for the Blind.
William Watson, aged 38. Mr. Watson
was educated at the Craigmillar School for the
Blind, Edinburgh. He was awarded the
A.R.C.O. degree at the early age of 21, and in
1 92 1 became organist at the North Church of
St. Nicholas, Aberdeen. He composed
several anthems.
Mrs. Annie Smith, aged 76. Mrs. Smith
was interested in many charitable institutions
in the Wolverhampton district, and served on
the General Committee of the Wolverhamp-
ton and Dudley Institution for the Blind.
Mrs. West Russell, who took an active
interest in the public work of Marylebone for
many years, and was Chairman of the Barclay
Workshops for the Blind. " Whatever she
did was well done," says The Times, " there
were efficiency, happiness and fun, which made
her friendship so valued, while she was a
standard example to all in her devotion to
home life."
Joseph H. Lee, on December 24th. Mr.
Lee was formerly Secretary of the Newcastle
Branch of the National Institute for the Blind
and later, Supervisor of Branches, from which
position he retired a year or two ago. His
death is deeply regretted by his former
colleagues at the National Institute, who
retain an affectionate memory of his geniality,
good nature, and devotion to the cause 'of
the blind.
Charles Gardner, of 58, Melbourne
Street, Worcester. Mr. Gardner was one of
Worcester's well-known characters. For
many years he did his round of a large area of
the city as a vendor of the local evening
papers, and was familiarly known to young
and old as " Blind Charlie."
The Rev. Arthur Percy Dodd, vicar of
Butlers Marston, near Kineton. He was
keenly interested in the welfare of the sight-
less, and was a member of the Committee of
the Warwickshire Association for the Blind.
page
'3
BEACON
JOURNALISM AS A PROFESSION FOR
THE BLIND— II.
By CAPT. J. H. W. PORTER, M.J.I. , F.R.E.S.
(All rights reserved.)
I AST month I had the honour of an
invitation to contribute an
article to this journal under
the above heading and I
gather that it has aroused
. considerable interest. One
m gentleman has reminded me
that in reference to the case I quoted of a
successful blind journalist, " one swallow does
not make a summer." This is perfectly true
but there are other instances of blind men
having become successful journalists and
there are doubtless many instances of which
I am unaware. There are also many instances
of men who have continued to follow their
profession, even to the point when their
vision has become almost, if not entirely,
negative. For years the late Sir Arthur
Pearson was slowly going blind, but he con-
tinued his journalistic work after he had
become entirely so.
There was recently quoted in the News-
paper World, the case of a living journalist,
who still carries on to some extent, but he,
like many other blind professional people has
not only to fight blindness but also prejudice.
It is very extraordinary that although there
are many folk who will readily admit that
blind people are clever, they are the very last
persons in the world who would trust a blind
person with a commission, much less give
them a permanent engagement. It may be
that the disinclination arises from nervousness
as to their liability in case of the blind person
meeting with an accident while following his
or her employment, but there are ways and
means of getting over this difficulty. So long
as prejudice exists, the professional blind
person will always have great difficulty in
obtaining employment. It is generally con-
ceded that if a blind person is to be assured
normal happiness that person, if he or she is
in normal health, must be given regular
occupation. Their brain or their fingers or
both must be kept active. The Blind Insti-
tution must do, and usually does, all it can
to place blind people in lucrative employ-
ment, but so long as prejudice, born of
ignorance of the blind person exists, there
will always be a large number of professional
PACK
'4
men and women who are unhappy in conse-
quence of inactivity.
There are many sighted people who believe,
even if they would not openly admit it, that
the mentality of blind people is inferior to
that of the sighted. This is sheer nonsense
for as a matter of fact many blind people
possess far more brilliant intellect than
sighted persons who have had better oppor-
tunities in life and have utterly failed to
appreciate the opportunity when it presented
itself. _This is what the Newspaper World
said of the blind journalist of whom the
Editor wrote, after introducing him to his
readers as a blinded ex-service man whom he
discovered delivering a lecture in a Surrey
village. " The most contagiously cheery
person was the lecturer himself, and the one
thing that he seemed anxious not to throw
into any sort of relief was his disability." He
did not ask for sympathy. On the contrary
, he. appealed to the public to help blinded
people to help themselves. They must work
in order to be happy. The article continues :
" Discovering that there was here a journalist
as well as an ex-service man, the writer had
a conversation with him at the close of his
address and found that his keenness for news-
paper work is undiminished by what he has
gone through. He is a member of the
Institute of Journalists and he would be glad
to be doing more work than his present
restricted Editorship and his occasional lec-
tures on various subjects involve. That he
has matured journalistic qualifications and
the topical instinct well developed his ready
handling of the Empire topic amply demon-
strated. But how can a blind journalist read
or write and so acquire and maintain the full
and accurate mind that successful exercise of
the craft demands ? The question was put
and the answer was simple : — ' I have a most
capable secretary who has for eleven years
given me the use of her eyes. She is also
expert as a journalistic amanuensis and is
excellent with proofs.' Perhaps some editor
contemplating a new feature or requiring
other specific literary assistance might care to
test to how great or to how small an extent the
' victory over blindness ' is possible to —
BEACON
amongst others — a journalist." For the past
nine years this man has edited, made up and
actually seen to press a monthly semi-
Service Journal.
Here is a direct challenge from the News-
paper World to Newspaper Proprietors of
Great Britain. What an opportunity for such
enterprising journals as The Daily Mail, The
Daily Express or The Daily Herald ! If this
article be read by a Newspaper Proprietor
who will have courage enough to test the
ability of any blind journalist or blind literary
contributor he will set a lead which will be of
inestimable value to thousands of young
people who are bereft of vision. Journalism
has a fascination of its own and offers vast
fields for thought, thus providing the food
for that mental activity which means happi-
ness. It is obviously useless to advocate
journalism as a profession for the blind unless
we can create a demand for the services of
men and women of sound education who are
anxious to enter the profession. The Press
itself can create that demand and they can
help to break down prejudice against blind
persons generally, which I say emphatically
does exist, and, I reiterate, this prejudice is
born of doubt. Workers in the cause of blind
people are naturally and properly more con-
cerned with the young than with the aged
blind and it is the young people for whom I
am holding a brief. Let us banish prejudice
and make a bold decision to give them an
opportunity. They are not blind mentally.
They simply can't see physically but, thank
God, they can observe.
I would like to see a blind journalist or
literary contributor on the staff of every
British Newspaper which claims any preten-
tion to greatness or importance, and special
work and plenty of it could be readily found
for this blind journalist. Given a fair Trade
Union rate of wage they, by some personal
sacrifice, and the help of their friends, would
provide their own escort-amanuensis and
with the help of the typewriter and a Braille
outfit for taking notes, they would be happy
indeed and free from the anxiety of impending
want.
The success or failure of a young person
depends to a very great extent upon training
and environment, and this is particularly so
in the case of a blind young person. They
must be taught deportment, to carry them-
selves naturally and not to walk with their
head tilted back, or to walk with a slouching
droop. They must cultivate cheerfulness of
manner and tone of voice and must be taught
to look directly into the face of the person to
whom they are talking. This can be done if
the right influence is brought to bear upon
them. In short, they must try to look and act
always like a normal individual.
Temperament, too, must be disciplined.
Petulance and irritability must be rigidly
controlled and the mournful note of pessimsm
entirely banished They should be taught to
look on the bright side of life and to seek for
the humorous rather than the dismal. There
is any amount of fun in life and if blind and
sighted alike were occupying an absolutely
dark room, I am of opinion that being
possessed of the inclination to be bright, the
blind members of the company would be the
more cheerful of those present. This advice
should be carefully studied by the young
aspirant to a journalistic career, for if he goes
to interview a Newspaper Proprietor in a
dismal November frame of mind he will not
make so good an impression as if he cultivated
the Spring-like brightness of May. Shyness,
embarrassment and hesitancy must not be
allowed to creep in and if they threaten an
attack, they must be ruthlessly chased away.
There is always danger of young people who
are blind being exploited. There is ever a
latent tendency to exploit all blind people.
This our sighted friends will say is untrue,
but perhaps if the Editor gives me the
opportunity I shall have something to say on
this subject in a later issue and my con-
clusions will be based on fourteen years'
public experience. And here I would advise
every qualified blind person who has not
already done so, to join the National Union
of the Professional and Industrial Blind.
Last month I made a special point of
reference to Professional Journalism. Now
let me say a word about Literary occupation.
There are many large firms which periodically
issue brochures and pamphlets of their
business or business wares. There are many
newspapers all over the country which run
special columns. Most of us know a little
more about one subject than we do about
others. Obviously, then, this is the subject to
choose. Seek all the information you can on
it. Ask your sighted friends to clip from the
newspapers and periodicals they come across,
anything bearing upon your pet theme — but
I do not advise Party Politics. It is a rocky
road on which angels may come to grief.
PAGE
r5
BEACON
There is music, the reviewing of books, a
London Letter on general topics for a
Country or Overseas Journal, agriculture,
poultry keeping, dogs, needlework, domestic
matters, cooking, home management and a
dozen other equally interesting subjects for
either male or female aspirants. It may be
possible to make a contract with a Newspaper
Proprietor, to supply him with a column per
week, and to the beginner who can pocket a
couple of guineas regularly in this way, there
will be given the vim and the urge to push on
to better things. Once the writer begins to
make a name as such, he or she will find
invitations to contribute articles coming in
pretty regularly all the year round.
I shall be glad at any time to answer any
questions which may be addressed to me on
the subject of Journalism or Literary work
for the blind, through the Editor of The New
Beacon.
(DRRBKMNCE
To the Editor.
The Blind and Journalism.
Sir, — I have read with very great interest,
in the December number of The New
Beacon, Capt. Porter's article dealing with
" Journalism as a Profession for the Blind."
For many years I have held strongly to the
opinion that quite a number of blind people
could be usefully occupied in journalism,
having proved the possibility myself.
Living in a small country town in which
nobody appeared to have thought it worth
while to concentrate in journalism, I have
during the past nineteen years built up quite
a little business as a free-lance journalist. I
correspond regularly with certain county
papers in Lincolnshire, both weeklies and
evening dailies, as well as other more widely
circulating provincial dailies, such as the
Sheffield Daily Telegraph, etc. I am also
connected with certain London dailies, to
which I dispense news of more than ordinary
interest.
My methods of collecting news appear to
be much like those described by Capt. Porter.
Occasionally I have to ask questions of a
sighted colleague, but I find that I can be
equally helpful to other journalists with my
acquired local knowledge of people and things.
It may interest your readers to learn that
on February 4th I have undertaken to lecture
at 12, Buckingham Street, Strand, under the
auspices of the Blind Social Aid Society,
when, under the heading of " Pleasure and
Profit in Journalism," I am hoping to create
some more interest in the development of
journalism as a profession for the blind.
Yours, etc.,
Alford, Lines. Patrick T. Keily.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have read Math interest the article
on " Journalism as a Profession for the
Blind " and thought it might be interesting
to the writer to know that there is a registered
blind person earning a living in South Wales
as a Reporter. He has a fair amount of sight,
but is registered and was trained at Birming-
ham Institution years ago. He makes a
living which keeps him independent of
financial assistance.
Yours, etc.,
Ethel Rawden,
Organising Secretary,
South Wales and Monnouthshire Counties'
Association for the Blind.
To the Editor.
Blind Pedestrians and Traffic.
Sir, — I have read with great interest the
article on the above subject which appeared
in the last issue of The New Beacon, and in
connection with same I wish to submit the
following points.
It may be interesting to your readers to
know that a " Safety First " Group for the
Blind was inaugurated on the 21st October
last in connection with the Manchester
Branch of the National League of the Blind.
As the name of the Group implies, our objects
are to educate blind persons in " Safety
First " principles, stressing those which
particularly affect themselves especially when
out in the streets. The White Stick for men,
and the White Covered Umbrella for women,
were introduced and now many sightless
people in Manchester and elsewhere are
benefiting by the use of these " Signs."
Blind Agencies, the Corporation Welfare
of the Blind Committees of both Manchester
and Salford, and the Police Authorities of the
two Cities, are giving this movement their
wholehearted support and several reports
from one or other of the above sources have
appeared in the Press informing the general
public of the adoption of the suggestions put
forward.
page
16
BEACON
Here in Manchester it has been found that
some of the blind people themselves are
prejudiced against the distinguishing mark.
In most cases, they are those who lost the
sight early in life and have got used to their
blindness, but the White " Signs " have come
as a boon to the older people who have been
deprived of sight in middle age. The fully
sighted persons with whom I have come into
contact fully support the idea, which is also
very much appreciated by motorists and other
road users.
Yours, etc.,
Ben Grant,
Manchester.
To the Editor.
Suggestion of a " Constant Reader."
Sir, — On reading my files of The New
Beacon I have been rather struck by the fact
that there has been no further defence of the
Unification Scheme of Collections and pre-
sume that the last word has been spoken on
this important subject, more especially as its
champions have brought forward evidence to
prove their contention which ranges from a
message from a grave in our National Valhalla
to my friend Mr. Preece's suggestions of the
opinions of a sage who is yet unborn.
I can, I think, claim with more than
ordinary truth that I am a " Constant
Reader " of your excellent periodical, and in
view of the World Conference on the Blind
to be held in New York in the Spring, would
you allow me to suggest that many valuable
articles could be written by your correspon-
dents on subjects concerning not so much
what has been done since the 16th August,
1920, as what has been left undone since the
night before.
If you could see your way to do this, you
would be conferring a great benefit on the
few of your readers who feel they are rather
blindly struggling their way to obtain the
results which are so very near to their hearts.
Yours, etc.,
G. Pollard.
THE STATE AND CHARITABLE
ENDOWMENTS.
By BEN PURSE.
IV
IT has already been made apparent from
our cursory examination of the effec-
tiveness or otherwise of endowed
charities that " when the people are
considered as cyphers, they act as
cyphers ; they appear to feel but little
concern for the welfare of the society,
and have not displayed the same zealous
activity and lively interest as when everything
depended on themselves." No one who
possesses an intimate knowledge of modern
social and industrial conditions can be
oblivious of this fact. One need not be
steeped in individualism to recognise the
gravity of a situation under which the State
and the local authorities presume so to
regulate life and conduct as to leave little
scope for the exercise of capacity. It is more
than probable that the extreme attitude
adopted by individualists of the last century
has tended to produce those violent reactions
of which much of our ill-considered social
legislation is the result.
A White Paper just issued discloses the
astounding fact that we are expending over
390 millions a year on the various social
services, and that at a time when the indus-
tries of the country are in a critical and
lamentable condition. It must be remem-
bered, too, that this expenditure is not being
incurred because a state of emergency exists :
rather have we come to look upon these
prodigious figures as representing a financial
condition which we must be prepared not
merely to accept to-day, but one whose
growth is inevitable and irrevocable.
It is not astonishing, therefore, that
sociologists, writing on educational endow-
ments towards the end of the last century,
should feel grave concern as to their true
ethical value. We may hesitate to accept the
unrestrained conclusions of Turgot, but we
cannot resist the conviction that the abuses
he described tended largely to neutralise most
of the good qualities that ought to have
emanated from such foundations.
Speaking of endowed primary schools, a
Commission of i860 reported : " Our general
BEACON
evidence as to the present state of these en-
dowments and their present influence on
education, we find almost without exception
unfavourable, and decidedly pointing to the
necessity of remedial measures." That
evidence included testimony from the then
Dean of Carlisle that " endowments in con-
nection with the schools of the working
classes are generally speaking unmitigated
evils. In most cases the evils of endowments
are so great that parishes would be far better
without any such schools at all." The
Assistant Commissioner for a London district
reported : " I have found a general dullness
and want of life to be the common character-
istics of endowed primary schools." Further,
an inspector of charities reported that unen-
dowed schools were better administered than
others. He contended that the interest of the
masters was too often more thought of than
that of the scholars. Confirmation of this
point of view is found in a statement made by
Bishop Villiers, who said : " I believe I state
a fact which admits of no controversy, that,
as a whole, schools with small endowments
are worse than any others."
Endowed secondary schools came under
the same strictures during the middle of the
last century. The Schools Inquiry Com-
mission of 1868 reported : " It is clear, from
the information which we have ourselves
received, that there are few endowments
applicable to secondary education which are
put to the best use, and very many which are
working to little or to bad use. . . . We have
pointed out many important endowments
where very large funds are producing at
present little or even no result." Illustrations
are given in their report, from which the
following are taken : Thames Grammar
School had two masters and one boy, whilst
those at Sutton Coldfield (endowed with £467
a year), and Little Walsingham (£1 10 a year),
were sometimes without any boys at all. It
is suggested that at Bath an income of /461
a year " appears to hinder rather than pro-
mote the education of the citizens, and does
nothing for the neighbourhood." Gloucester-
shire had seventeen foundations, and none of
these are reported to have been at all efficient.
Again : " It is difficult to understand that
Masham School serves any useful purpose."
" A school of this kind (Easingwold) does
great harm to the community." " This school
(Bridlington) in its present state hinders rather
than promotes the civilisation of the place."
One might continue almost indefinitely to
quote these examples, but sufficient has been
said to show the disastrous effects produced
by ill-considered and badly-administered
Trust Funds.
By way of contrast, the Report quoted
above says : " Much of the vitality of
Doncaster School is owing to the fact that it
possesses none of the wealth which in so many
instances proves to be an encouragement to
indolence. . . . Liverpool is remarkable alike
for its entire absence of ancient endowments
for secondary education, and for the efforts of
its inhabitants to provide such education."
The Scotch Education Commissioners re-
ported that " the most notable feature of the
(Scotch) schools is the want of endowments,"
yet " the Burgh and other secondary schools
of Scotland are in a satisfactory condition and
supei'ior to the majority of the English
grammar schools. ... In Scotland this class
of school is scarcely endowed at all. In
England the cost is borne by the endowment.
The endowments of the Scotch secondary
schools seemed only to constitute about one-
seventeenth of their incomes.
Turning to ecclesiastical endowments, it
would appear that in many instances the sense
of religious obligation has not provided an
influence capable of counteracting the evils
to which reference has already been made.
In fact, one school of politicians has suggested
the endowment of the Christian Church as
the surest means of benumbing her. Where,
however, the close connection of State and
Church by a national establishment of
religion has secured to the former a continu-
ous right of control over the endowments of
the Church, it is possible to retain the valuable
aid of these endowments, and yet counteract
their evil tendencies. The parliamentary
readjustment of the revenues of the estab-
lished Church laid the basis for the spiritual
awakening towards the end of the last century.
In unestablished churches, where no such
control exists, the fatal influence of endow-
ments is unchecked, and frequently results in
sapping the life of a church if it be weak, or
if it be strong, in increasing its power until it
becomes a source of danger to the State itself.
Turgot's arguments lead us irresistibly to
the conclusion that we must not permit en-
dowments to be created indiscriminately ;
that we must never fail to surround them
with the spur and bridle of authoritative
BEACON
supervision ; and that we must provide for
their periodical readjustment. As Mr. Court-
ney Kenny observes : " Beyond these con-
clusions Turgot's arguments cannot logically
be pressed. They afford no warrant for his
inference that all endowments must be
prohibited." That endowments are apt to
be abused is readily conceded : but such
abuse affords no justification whatever for the
total abolition or destruction of machinery
which can so be re-modelled as to be capable
of conferring incalculable benefits upon
humanity. " To abolish Foundations, in-
stead of taking the trouble to control them is
like breaking a watch-spring for fear it should
run down. It is the same wasteful policy that
hanged criminals when it might have re-
formed them. If all endowments have had
defects, so have all other human institutions ;
and it is from the nettle Mistake that we pluck
the flower Experience." Burke, in his
" Reflections," emphasises these contentions
with wonderful clarity and incisiveness when
he says : " There is something else than the
mere alternative of absolute destruction or
unreformed existence. ... A disposition to
preserve and an ability to improve, taken
together, would be my standard of a states-
man. He does not deserve to rank high,
or even to be mentioned in the order of great
statesmen, who having obtained the command
and direction of such power as existed in the
wealth, the discipline, and the habits of such
corporations as those which you have de-
stroyed, cannot find any way of converting it
to the great and lasting benefit of his country.
On the view of this subject a thousand uses
suggest themselves to a contriving mind."
As we write, we have before us a circular
issued under the authority of an organisation
which exists ostensibly to promote the social
and industrial well-being of the blind. The
document advises the public to withhold
their contributions for the sustenance of the
very work which is said to be so essential and
which can only be made effective by the co-
operation and goodwill of the communitv.
Here is a piquant illustration of the muddle-
headedness which characterises certain schools
of thought. It is held apparently that by
causing supplies to cease, it is possible to feed
the hungry and clothe the naked, such an
assumption being based upon the premise
that if voluntary effort ceased, the State and
local authorities would be compelled to
provide all necessary requirements. Ex-
perience has shown, however, that well-
directed philanthropic effort is doing more to
inculate the high qualities of citizenship than
any of the hastily improvised State expedients
which have been imposed upon us since the
beginning of this century.
If it is held that certain charities are badly
administered, then surely the proper course
of procedure to adopt is to prepare a reasoned
case, supported by every jot and tittle of
available evidence, and to demand an inquiry
into such an administration. Generally
speaking, the machinery for such procedure
exists, and if a prima facie case for such an
investigation can be established, all other
obstacles can be overcome. The truth is,
however, that a great deal of nonsense is
talked by irresponsible people, who make a
mountain out of a molehill. Some trifling
grievance exists, and it is multiplied out of all
recognition to its true proportions. Sensa-
tional news paragraphs appear, and the public
are invited to believe that handicapped people
are being shamefully exploited by those who
are entrusted with administrative duties.
No one can doubt the existence of abuses,
but it is not in any sense true to-day to
suggest that they are widespread. Just as one
swallow may not make a summer, so in like
manner is it a malicious untruth to contend
that charity administration in this country
teems with abuses.
During the past decade innumerable efforts
have been made by social workers to cleanse
the administrations of the taint which previous
neglect had imposed upon them. These
efforts have been more than successful ; they
represent a complete conquest. The fact that
occasionally some distasteful episode arises to
attract our attention is in itself significant, for
it clearly proves that the rarity of such
incidents is a vindication of the general
integrity of official life and conduct in this
country.
As we have previously indicated, certain
reforms are still desirable, and as these articles
proceed we hope to be able to direct attention
to the most urgent of such changes in law and
practice. In the meantime, those who
imagine that charity administration in this
country is a lurking-place in which exist all
manner of incalculable abuses will surely find
disillusionment should they undertake to
conduct an inquiry, even along the most
modest lines.
( To be continued.)
PAGE
10
BEACON
UNION OF COUNTIES ASSOCIATIONS
FOR THE BLIND.
A
Report of General Meeting.
Mr. P. M.
GENERAL Meeting of the
Council of the Union of
Counties Associations for
the Blind was held at Cloth-
workers' Hall, Mincing Lane,
E.C.3, on 20th November,
under the Chairmanship of
Evans, M.A., LL.D.
The question of representation at the
International Conference to be held in
America in April was discussed and Miss
Merivale, Chairman of the Midland Counties
Association, was nominated one of the
delegates.
A report was received from the represent-
atives of the Union on the Committee of the
British " Wireless for the Blind " Fund, in
which it was stated that 6,000 crystal sets had
been distributed and that the distribution of
valve sets had now begun.
A short report on the Association of Work-
shops for the Blind was made by Dr. J. M.
Ritchie, in which he referred to the institution
of a Central Marketing Board, and to a
programme of work shortly to be prepared
by the Executive Committee.
On the 23rd October the Union reached
the 2 1 st anniversary of its foundation (a
short memorandum on its history from the
beginning appears in the Annual Report for
the year 1929-30). The Chairman, during
the course of a short address, said he was sure
that the Council would wish to mark the
occasion by tendering its grateful thanks to
the founder of the Union, Henry John Wilson,
and to everyone who had helped in the work
on behalf of the blind. Mr. Wilson, although
unable any longer to take an active part in the
affairs of the Union, still took the greatest
interest in its work. Any successful work in
the past could be attributed to co-operation,
co-ordination of effort and the consequent
heightening of efficiency. He referred to the
success obtained by the compulsory notifi-
cation of Ophthalmia Neonatorum in 1914,
the setting up of Home Workers' Schemes
and After-Care Work, the last named being of
special importance as it affected the greater
number of the blind population. The
PAGE
20
Departmental Committee which reported in
1 9 17 attached so much importance to the
work of the English Unions that it pressed for
their completion, and in 1919 the Ministry of
Health made a special grant to assist in the
development of the work they had begun.
Since the passing of the Local Government
Act the position had been considerably
changed and still closer co-operation was
needed between Local Authorities and Volun-
tary Societies ; it was for the latter to consider
how they could best fulfil their obligations to
the blind. Unity of aim must be the keynote
of the work and this assumes a spirit willing
to sacrifice and to sink personal differences in
the interest of progress, and the realisation of
a national, rather than a parochial, ideal.
Goodwill and enthusiasm will carry the Union
a long way upon the road on which it started
twenty-one years ago under the guidance of
Henry John Wilson. The Chairman con-
gratulated the Union on having reached an
important stage in its work and he hoped that
by continued co-operation something even
greater might be accomplished.
During the luncheon interval, in reply to a
speech by Mr. E. L. Turnbull (Board of
Education), conveying the thanks of the
meeting to the Clothworkers' Company, Dr.
Arthur Bousfield, Master of the Clothworkers'
Company, expressed the pleasure taken by the
Company in receiving those engaged in work
for the blind, and referred to the interest
which had been taken by the Company for
the last two hundred years in such work, an
interest which contact with Dr. Evans had
converted into enthusiasm.
A report of the Prevention of Blindness
Sub- Committee was received and a vote of
thanks was carried to the Court of the
Clothworkers' Company and to the Council
of the National Institute for the Blind for the
grants made by them to enable investigation
as to the prevention of blindness to be under-
taken.
Supervision of Services for the blind and of
Registration were among the subjects dis-
cussed during the afternoon.
The discussion on registration was opened
by Miss Merivale, who stressed the importance
BEACON
of a live register in order that the work of the
societies administering blind welfare might
be as complete as possible. Mrs. Cowley
(Northern Counties Association for the Blind)
supported Miss Merivale and emphasised the
need for accurate and detailed registration
which would ensure the production of
reliable statistics from which correct infer-
ences could be drawn and upon which future
work for the blind could be built up.
An interesting paper on " The mental life
of a person born blind " was read by Dr. J. M.
Ritchie,* followed by a short discussion in
which blind members of the Union took part.
It was arranged to hold the Annual
Meeting on 25th June, 193 1 , and the meeting
concluded with a Vote of Thanks to the
Chairman.
Metropolitan and Adjacent Counties
Association for the Blind.
On October 30th, 1930, this Association
held its Executive Council and Annual General
Meetings.
Necessary business was done. The vital
questions of Supervision by Local Authorities
of services used for the blind and of the
representation of Local Authorities on the
governing body of the Association were
discussed.
A Memorandum indicating how the Objects
of the Association are now being carried out
is available.
The Annual Report and Statement of
Accounts 1929-30 was approved, and the
Secretary, 66, Victoria Street, S.W.i, will be
glad to supply copies.
North-Western Counties Association for the
Blind.
Schemes for the Relief of the Necessitous
and Unemployable Blind.
It is of interest to note that the Cheshire
County Council have adopted a Scheme for
the relief of necessitous or unemployable
blind people, which came into force on 1st
January. The Scheme provides for raising
the incomes of eligible blind persons to a sum
varying, according to circumstances, from
17s. 6d. to 25s. for individual blind persons,
and 30s. to 40s. when husband and wife are
both blind. The administration of the Scheme
is being carried out on behalf of the Cheshire
County Council by the Chester Society for
the Home Teaching of the Blind, the Ashton-
under-Lyne Home Teaching Society, the
Macclesfield Home Teaching Society and
Stockport Institute for the Blind.
The Chester City Council has adopted a
Scheme for the relief of the unemployable
blind which provides for " such relief as is
considered necessary."
The result of the adoption of these Schemes
is the removal of all blind persons in Cheshire
from the receipt of relief from the Public
Assistance Committee, as they will now be
dealt with by the Blind Persons Act Commit-
tees of the respective County and City
Councils.
It will be remembered that the remaining
County Boroughs in the area of the North-
western Counties Association have already
adopted Schemes for the relief of the unem-
ployable blind. Stockport raises the incomes
of individual blind persons to 20s. and that of
two blind persons married and living together
to 35s. per week. Birkenhead and Wallasey
similarly raise the incomes to 27s. 6d. and
two guineas respectively.
Northern Counties Association for the Blind-
The Quarterly Meeting of the Northern
Counties Association for the Blind was held
in the Town Hall, Sheffield, on Wednesday,
December 10th, 1930, when delegates also
visited the Royal Blind School and the
Sheffield Corporation Workshops for the
Blind. Dr. Henry Herd, Acting School
Medical Officer of Health to the Manchester
Education Committee, and author of
" Diagnosis of Mental Deficiency," gave a
carefully considered address on the Mentally
Defective Blind. It was unanimously resolved
to print the address as a pamphlet in order
that the suggestions made might receive
further consideration by all those interested.
*This paper will be printed in full in the
Report of the Meeting, copies of iihich are
obtainable from the Secretary, Union of
Counties' Associations for the Blind, 66,
Victoria Street, S.W.i.
The Viscountess Brentford has been elected
Chairman of the Barclay Workshops for the
Blind in succession to Mrs. West Russell
whose death is reported on page 13.
PAGE
21
POINTS FROM
THE PRESS
A Disappearing Prejudice.
Mr. Alfred W. Marsh, the blind organist
of Piatt Church, Maidstone, when asked
whether he had experienced any prejudice
against blind musicians when they applied
for posts such as organists, replied " Yes, but
it is now disappearing."
" Lots of people," he added, " get the
idea that blind people ought to be pitied and
say ' Of course, you can't expect him to do
this and do that.' But, as I said before, I
agreed with the late Sir Arthur Pearson, who
declared ' Blindness is not an affliction.' Call
it a handicap if you like. It is up to a man
whether he rises above it." — Kent Messenger.
The Development of Touch.
It is probable that, in most blind persons,
the faculty of the mind which phrenologists
have supposed to be demonstrated by the
organ of locality, must be exercised and
perfected to an extraordinary degree. A
blind workman, if he use a score or more of
tools, always places his hand on the right one
when it is wanted, and will tell in an instant,
Christmas Day at the New " Sunshine" Home for
Blind Babies at East Grinstead.
BEACON
and even after a considerable lapse of time,
whether his tool-box has been tampered with,
or the arrangement of the implements altered.
The perfection of this faculty is sometimes
exhibited in blind chess-players, who gener-
ally attain to remarkable proficiency in the
most complicated of all games. Boys of
tender age, and who were born blind, play
this difficult game in a masterly way, generally
check-mating their more mature antagonist.
Their sole guide is the sense of touch ; and
it is astonishing to note with what rapidity
they ascertain all they want to know by this
means. By merely laying the palm of the
hand and the finger-tips on the pieces as they
stand, they master in a moment the position
of the contending forces, and, without being
informed of the adversary's move, make the
necessary disposition to defeat them. — Hamp-
shire Chronicle.
Life's Hidden Treasures.
The bitterness of my blindness no longer
haunts me. I am too interested in myself.
For fifteen years I have not seen a single ray
of daylight, yet I picture myself something
of a novelty.
I can think about myself for hours on end,
and yet not tire of mv subject. I can conjure
up visions of the world around me, visions
which are probably artificial and distorted.
But does that matter ? My eyes will never
open again to disillusion me. Living in a
fantasy is often better than reality
The Big Things of life lay hidden below
the surface. In the days when I could see
with my material eyes my mental eyes were
blind. I asked nothing more of a woman
than shining eyes and pretty face. Now,
although I am called blind, I can see. I have
found things bigger and deeper and more
awe-inspiring, I have discovered the immense
greatness of living and being loved.
What matters it to me that my friends must
act as Good Samaritans in my presence ?
I disdain them, but in a sense I find it
amusing.
And there is one, at least, who does not act.
I think she is the only genuine Samaritan of
them all. She is the one that matters.
She is Life. — Bristol Times and Mirror.
A Blinded Soldier's Love Story.
The Five Guinea prize awarded daily by
the Evening Standard for the best " Real Life
Love Story " was gained on the 27th Decem-
PAGE
22
BEACON
ber by a blinded soldier. It was described as
" one of the most appealing of all those sub-
mitted by readers," and is reprinted below.
" I was in France, a man without relatives
and very lonely. Then came the first of those
dear letters from a girl I had never met. For
a long time we corresponded and exchanged
photographs. I fell in love with her picture
and before very long I told her so. Leave,
always elusive, seemed impossible and, before
our first meeting, my sight was completely
destroyed by a shell burst.
" Thus I came back to England with my
romance in the dust, condemned, as I then
thought, to a life of miserv. That glorious
woman came to me in hospital and acted as
my guide and second self in the weary days
that followed. One afternoon she proposed
to me, and, selfish though it may have been,
I said the word I had hoped to hear her say.
" Now I am happy and I believe she is, too.
I adore the wife of whom I have only seen a
picture, and I worship my son of whom I
cannot even say that.
" My wife is more than my right hand, and
while such women live, we who gave so much
will yet see England regain her rightful place
in the world.
" Fourteen years of darkness have taught me
that Love is everything, and I thank God for
a light hidden to many men less fortunate
than myself." — " Time Brings Roses,"
S.W.17.
ANNOUNOMMS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND.
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MUSIC.
The prices of the following prices of music are subject
to a reduction of three quarters for the blind resident
in the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
The minimum price is 6d. per copv.
DANCE- d
10.528 Burke, J. The Kiss Waltz (from
" Dancing Sweeties "), Song-Waltz,
pkt. H. 3 „ ... 2 0
10.529 Campbell, J. and Connelly, R. The
Same as we Used to do, Song-Waltz,
pkt. H. 3 2 (i
10.530 Fisher, Goodwin and Shay. When
You're Smiling, Song Fox-Trot,
pkt. H. 2 2 (i
10.531 Hamm, Bennett, Lown and Gray.
Bye, Bye, Blues, Song Fox-Trot,
pkt. H. 3 2 0
BRAILLE BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
PM
L2
11
3
(i
3
1;
1
0
•>
6
2
6
::
11
9,602-9610 East Lynne, by Mrs. Henry Wood.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpol nted,
Paper Covers, 9 vols. F. 581 ... 6 6
MOON BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per vol.
s. d.
3,009-3,014 Freckles, by Gene Stratton-Porter.
6 vols. (Limited Edition) 12 0
3,015-3,021 The Broken Halo, by Florence
Barclay. 7 vols. (Limited Edition)...
3.029 Behind the Shade, by A. Morrison
3.030 Martha's Treasure, by A. Reid
3.031 Miss Hamilton's Guest, by R. Dearden
3.032 Owd Blossom, by M. Webb
3.033 The Silhouettes, by A. Quiller-Couch ...
3.034 To Let. by E. Gaberiau
3.035 Things to Live For, by J. R. Miller,
Vol. I (Devotional Periodical) (British
Readers, 2s. 3d.) 3 6
NATIONAL INSTITUTE STUDENTS' LIBRARY.
ADDITIONS.
CLASSICS. ft/
Cicero: Pro. Milone. Ed. by J. S. Reid ... 3
ECONOMICS.
Penman, W. Advantages of Insurance ... 2
EDUCATIONAL.
Kenwrick, E. and M. The Child from Five to Ten 3
ENGLISH LITERATURE.
Priestlev, J. B. English Humour ... ... 2
Trench.R. C. English, Past and Present ... 3
ESSAYS AND BELLES LETTRES.
Trevelyan, G. M. Clio, a Muse 3
Murry, J. Middleton. Evolution of an Intel-
lectual 2
HISTORY.
Lloyd, J. E. History of Wales 1
Sargeant, P. W. Cleopatra of Egypt 4
LAW.
Bicknell, B. A. Cases in Constitutional Law ... 2
Wilshere. A. M. Procedure in an Action in
King's Bench Division ... ... ... ... 4
MODERN LANGUAGES.
Renan, E. Souvenirs d'Enfance ... ... 5
PHILOSOPHY.
Aristotle. Rhetoric. Trans, by J. E. C. Welldon 4
POETRY AND DRAMA.
Aronson.L. Christ in the Synagogue 2
Yeats. W. B. Later Poems ... ... ... 2
POLITICAL SCIENCE.
Hearnshaw, F. C. R. British Prime Ministers... 1
SCIENCE.
Jeans, Sir J. The Universe Around Us ... 4
THEOLOGY AND RELIGION.
St. Augustine, Confessions of ... ... ... 6
NATIONAL INSTITUTE MUSIC STUDENTS'
LIBRARY.
Gladstone, F. E. Strict Counterpoint, Part 1. Vol. 1
(101).
Strict Counterpoint, Part 1, Vol. 2 (102).
Part 2 (103).
Barrett, W. A. English Church Composers, Vol. 1 (104)
Vol. 2 (105).
Various Composers. Twelve Songs for Soprano :— (106)
Lullaby (Brahms). Last Night (Kjerulf).
Let me wander not unseen (Handel).
Knowest thou the Land ? (Beethoven).
My mother bids me (Haydn).
Bid me discourse (Bishop).
Ave Maria (Schubert) . May Dew (Sterndale Bennett)
PAGE
BEACON
I will sing of Thy great mercies (" St. Paul ") (Men-
delssohn).
Jerusalem (" St. Paul ") (Mendelssohn).
Where the bee sucks (Arne).
Rose softly blooming (Spohr).
Page. Arthur. Organ Playing (Tutor) (107).
Davey, Henry. Students' Musical Historv, Vol. 1 (108)
„ ' Vol. 2 (109).
Various Composers. Westminster Carol Book, Vol. 1
(115).
Westminster Carol Book, Vol 2 (116).
„ Vol. 3 (117).
Mendelssohn. Two-part Songs (118L
Various Composers. Songs for Tenor Voice : — (119)
Oft in the stilly night (T. Moore).
Only for thee (Roeckel). The Garland (Mendelssohn).
To Chloe (Sterndale Bennett). The Violet (Mozart).
My heart and lute (Kjerulf).
Would you gain the tender creature ? (" Acis and
Galatea ") (Handel).
Where'er yon walk (Handel).
His salvation is nigh (Sterndale Bennett).
Recit. and Air. In native worth (Haydn).
Be thou faithful (Mendelssohn).
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND.
ADDITIONS— DECEMBER, 1930.
FICTION. Vols.
Bedell, G. T. Basket of Flowers 2
Birmingham, G. A. Goodly Pearls ... ... 3
Buchan, John. Castle Gay ... ... ... 5
Croker, B. M. Diana Barrington ... ... 8
Dawson, A. J. Jan, Son of Finn ... ... 4
Fletcher, J. S. Middle Temple Murder ... 4
Grey, Zane. Vanishing Indian ... ... ... 5
Harker, L. Allen. Black Jack House ... ... 4
Hodson, J. L. Grey Dawn — Red Night ... 5
Holme, Constance. He-who-came ... ... 2
Jesse, F. Tennyson. The Lacquer Lady ... 7
Kaye-Smith, Sheila. Iron and Smcke ... ... 5
Kaye-Smith, Sheila. Shepherds in Sackcloth... 5
Mackail, Dennis. The Flower Show ... ... 6
Mundy, Talbot. The Hundred Days 3
Parker, M. E. Frances. The Unspoiled ... 2
Roche, Mazo de la. Jalna ... ... ... 5
Rohmer, Sax. She who sleeps ... ... ... 4
Sabatini, R. Hounds of God ... ... ... 4
Wentworth. P. The Coldstone ... ... ... 4
Whitechurch, V. L. First and Last 5
MISCELLANEOUS.
Buchan. Susan. Sword of State ... ... 4
Chesterton, G. K. Robert Louis Stevenson
(People's Library) ... ... ... ... 2
Cummins, G. Scripts of Cleophas ... ... 5
Diary of Opal Whitley 4
*Fairgrieve, J. and Young, E. Human Geo-
graphies, Book I, British Isles ... ... 7
fGore, Bishop. Christ and Society ... ... 3
Hosie, Lady. Portrait of a Chinese Lady ... 7
Brother Lawrence. Practice of the Presence of
God 1
*Inge, Rev. W. R. Protestantism (Benn's
Sixpenny Library) ... ... 2
Instruction in Bee-keeping for the use of Irish
Bee-keepers (E. W. Austin Memorial) ... 2
Lucas, E. V. (Compiled by). Friendly Town... 4
Matthews, W. R. Some Modern Problems of
Faith 1
May, J. Lewis. Path Through the Wood ... 2
Melville, L. (Editor). Life and Letters of John
Gay: 1685-1732 3
Murray, Rev. A. With Christ in the School of
Prayer 3
Newbolt, H. Studies Green and Gray ... ... 4
* Produced by the National Institute for the Blind.
t Presented by the Guild of Church Braillists.
Plumer, A., M.A.. D.D. (Editor). The Gospel
according to St. John in Greek (with Notes
and Introduction) (in Continuation) ... ... 4
Old, W. G. The Simple Way A new Transla-
tion of the Tao-Tch King 3
Robinson, C. E. History of Greece (E. W.
Austin Memorial) ... ... ... ... 9
Tomlinson, H. M. Sea and the Jungle 5
tUnderhill, Evelyn. The House of the Soul ... 2
Urwick. L. Meaning of Rationalisation (E. W.
Austin Memorial) ... ... 2
Wells, H. G. Short History of the World ... 5
Williams, A. R. The Russian Land 3
JUVENILE.
Craddock, Mrs. H. C. Josephine, John and the
Puppv ... ... ... ... ... ... 1
ESPERANTO.
Morton, J. M. Boks Kaj Koks 1
MOON.
Douglas, O. Penny Plain ... ... ... 6
Stratton -Porter, Gene. Freckles ... ... 6
ADVERTISEMENTS
" Golden Fleece "STOCKING MACHINE, 3 cylinders.
cost £15, good as new. No reasonable offer refused.
G. Jackson, 16, Hutton St., Sunderland, Co. Durham.
WANTED— SIGHTED LADY HOME TEACHER.
State age, experience and qualifications. Applications
to be sent immediately to the Superintendent and
Secretary, Institution for the Blind, Roundhay Road,
Leeds.
LIVERPOOL HOME TEACHING SOCIETY.
REQUIRED, sighted lady 'age about 35) as ORGAN-
IZING .SECRETARY, who will also act as Superin-
tendent of teachers. Experience of work amongst the
blind essential. Apply bv letter to Hon. Sec. of H.T.S.,
4, Cornwallis Street, Liverpool, stating age and
uualincations.
COLLEGE OF TEACHERS OF THE BLIND.
NATIONAL DIPLOMA FOR BLIND
PIANOFORTE TUNERS.
The next examination for the Diploma will be held
on 18th March, 1931. Forms of application can be
obtained from the Hon. Registrar of the College,
224-6-8, Great Portland Street, London, W.l, and must
be returned not later than 14th February, 1931.
MICROMETERS, similar to those used by the sighted,
but with their markings indicated by Braille signs, are
obtainable in Germany. The National Institute for
the Blind has added one of each type of instrument to
its Museum, in order that any blind person who is con-
sidering the possibility of purchasing a micrometer from
Germany may have the opportunity of examining the
instrument on loan before ordering.
NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY COUNCIL.
Applications are invited for the position of LADY
HOME TEACHER for the Blind (SIGHTED). Candi-
dates must be strong and healthy and hold the Certifi-
cate of the College of Home Teachers. Salary at the
rate of £160 per ann., rising after two years satisfactory
service by increments of £10 to £200 per annum, subject
to deduction under the Local Government and Other
Officers Superannuation Act. The successful candidate
must be prepared to undergo a medical examination as
to her physical fitness for the work.
Applications stating age, qualifications and experi-
ence in social work must be sent to me at once accom-
panied by not more than three testimonials.
William F. J. Whitley, M.D., D.P.H.,
County Medical Officer of Health,
South Granville House,
Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-T e.
Printed by Smiths' Printing Company (London & St. Albans), Ltd., 22-24, Fetter Lane, London, E.C.4
BEACON
A MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF THE BLIND
Vol. XV.-No. 170. FEBRUARY 15th, 1931. Price 3d.
3S. PER ANNUM, POST FBI!
Enttrid as Second Class Matter, Match 15, 1929, at the Post Office at Boston, Mass., under the Act of March 3, 1879 (See. 397, P.L. an.l P
PREVENTION OF BLINDNESS
IN EGYPT.
FOR hundreds of years past, travellers to Egypt have returned with sad stories of the
prevalence of eye-trouble. As long ago as 1589 a Bohemian writer who visited
Cairo described the masses of flies on the eyes of children, while in a book
published in Paris in 1745, Egypt is described by its French author as " The
Land of the Blind." James Bruce, a Scottish traveller, writing a few years later,
spoke thus of Assouan — " Though it should by its situation be healthy, the
general complaint is a weakness and soreness of the eyes ; you scarcely ever see
a person in the street that sees with both."
From the beginning of the nineteenth century many attempts were made to combat Egyptian
or Military Ophthalmia, which attacked almost every European country between 1800 and 1850
and was one of the most horrible results of the Napoleonic wars. In 1825 an Egyptian medical
school was founded at the instance of a particularly enlightened Pasha, and placed in the charge
of a young Frenchman, who, under the name of Clot Bey, gave himself untiringly to the work
of ophthalmology in spite of his own defective eyesight. During the next three-quarters of a
century, Clot Bey was succeeded by other devoted individual workers, who tried, often under
most adverse conditions and in the face of unreasoning prejudice, to combat eye-disease, but
it was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that a concerted effort was made possible.
In 1902 a Medical Congress was held at Cairo, at which special attention was directed
to the question of eye-trouble, and as a result of this Congress, Sir Ernest Cassel decided to
give £40,000 in order that steps might be taken to attack the evil. There were at this time four
Eye Hospitals in Egypt, one the Kalaun Hospital in Cairo (interesting as the second oldest
Eye Hospital in the world), one in connection with a medical school at Kasr el Aini, and two in
Alexandria. There were a few oculists in private practice in the large towns but none in the
provinces, and very few qualified doctors ; the treatment of eye patients by barbers was of very
common occurence.
Dr. Osborne, a well-known oculist living in Alexandria, was consulted as to the form
Sir Ernest Cassel's benefaction should take, and suggested that temporary eye hospitals should
be set up, rather on the lines of an experiment which had proved very successful in Russia.
Among an illiterate and scattered peasantry no scheme could prove successful unless it brought
BEACON
treatment to the very door of the patient. A
long and expensive journey coupled with the
prospect of a sojourn among strangers and the
shrewd suspicion that a surgeon's knife is
likely to form part of the treatment, is enough
to deter any country-dweller who has perhaps
never left his native village and has a dread
of the unknown and untried.
A London oculist, Dr. MacCallan, was
appointed Director of the work, and it is to
his tireless devotion over a period of about
twenty years, that the present relatively
satisfactory state of affairs in Egypt is largely
due. He began by visiting towns and treating
the patients brought to him there, and so
succeeded in breaking down some of the
prejudices they may have had against treat-
ment, and making himself familiar at the
same time with conditions of life at first hand.
In 1904 he opened the first travelling hospital
at Menuf ; it consisted of tents for operative
and out-patient treatment, staff-officer tents
for the ophthalmic inspector and the Egyptian
surgeon, a shelter large enough to accom-
modate about 500 out-patients, kitchen,
stores, etc. The work was carried on by two
surgeons, a clerk, a steward, two male trained
attendants, two women attendants, four male
attendants under training, and five other
employees. The Hospital usually remained
for about six months in one place, treating all
the patients who came to it from surrounding
districts.
In 1905, at the suggestion of Lord Cromer,
it was decided that the travelling hospital,
valuable as it was, needed to be supplemented
by a permanent service in some of the larger
towns, and money was raised for this purpose
by subscription and local taxation. By
degrees, arrangements for ophthalmic treat-
ment have been provided in most of the
larger towns and in many country districts,
and by 1927 there were 26 permanent and
13 travelling hospitals, which in that one
year treated 350,000 patients. Writing in
1927 Dr. MacCallan says : — " There is a
special teaching hospital in the environs of
Cairo and adjoining it a special ophthalmic
laboratory which is . . . probably the best
ophthalmic laboratory in the world. The
staff of the Ophthalmic Hospitals (which
form a section of the Department of Public
Health) consists of Egyptian surgeons, two
for each hospital, who received their post
graduate ophthalmic training from the former
British Director of the Egyptian Ophthalmic
PAGE
26
Hospitals between 1903 and 1924. The
annual cost of the Ophthalmic Department to
the Egyptian Government is now about
£60,000 a year."
Very special attention has from the first
been given to the care of children — " however
crowded the out-patient department may be
children are never refused admission . . .
hundreds of children are annually saved from
complete blindness." Simple talks are given
to the mothers on the necessity of cleanliness
and pamphlets distributed on prevention.
While Dr. MacCallan gave much of his
time during his service in Egypt to the
immediate needs of clinical work, he was
always mindful of the time when he would
have to leave the task of combating blindness
in the hands of others ; his primary aim was
the teaching of ophthalmology and he trained
men to succeed him, so that on his resignation
as Director his place was ably taken by an
Egyptian doctor, Dr. Raschid, who is assisted
by a pathologist and ophthalmic inspectors.
Dr. Ernst Fuchs, the great Austrian
ophthalmologist who died a few weeks ago,
and to whom the movement for prevention in
many countries owes so much, wrote in 1924
as follows : — " The result of the campaign
against the disease shows itself very strikingly
in the decrease in the number of blind people.
Seven years ago when I was in Egypt for the
first time I often saw in the busy streets of
the towns a procession of four or more blind
people who were led about by a half blind
beggar. Even to this day there are still
plenty to be seen but their number is reduced.
The Arab University in the El Azhar Mosque
had formerly in a total of 4,000 students about
600 blind, whereas now amongst 5,422
students with ' enough good eyesight '
there are only 230 blind ; but when compared
with European conditions the number is still
terribly high."
Thus while it is true that the problem of
blindness in Egypt has during the past thirty
years received very serious attention, there
are still many blind in the country, and it may
be of interest in conclusion to know what is
being done to help them.
The earliest Blind School appears to be
that at Alexandria which was founded by
Lady Meath in connection with the work of
the Ministering Children's League in 1898.
A teacher was sent out from England, and
instruction arranged in basket making and
chair-caning ; so successful did the venture
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prove that in 1904 an additional house was
taken for the school. The work still continues
to-day and is recognised by the Government
for purposes of grant.
In 1 90 1 an Institution for Blind Boys was
founded at Zeitoun by the late Mrs. Armitage,
wife of Dr. Armitage, and this too continues
to do valuable work and receives State aid.
The Institution is non-sectarian, and gives
both primary and industrial training, and
prints its own Braille books in Arabic.
Besides the ordinary blind trades carried on
by the adult blind in Egypt (which include
basketry, chair-caning, carpet making and
brush making) the Moslem blind are often
employed as professional readers of the Koran,
while Christians find occupation as profes-
sional singers in the Churches.
The Egyptian Government assists the
workshops by purchasing goods from them,
and also by displaying finished articles made
by the blind in the permanent Exhibition of
the School of Commerce. Another interesting
mark of the interest of the Government in
blind welfare is the fact that in 1927 a special
department for training teachers of the blind
was established in connection with the Train-
ing College for Women Teachers at Boulac.
Thirteen bl nd women have lately completed
their studies in this department.
Progress in the past thirty years has been
made at a rate undreamt of in former gener-
ations ; much, of course, still remains to be
accomplished, but if in the next three decades
the problem of prevention is attacked with
the same energy as in the last, " The Land
of the Blind " will no longer merit its sad
title.
BLIND TEACHERS
1AST summer, it was reported that the
Education Committee of the
London County Council had
recommended that no more
blind teachers should be em-
J ployed in its Schools for the
M Blind, and that the recom-
menuaiiuii nad been adopted by the Council.
This surprising decision was very strongly
criticised by those most intimately acquainted
with the education of the blind, and the
Education and Research Committee of the
National Institute expressed an opinion that
" this decision, which was taken without
consultation with any official bodies concerned
in the education of the blind," was disastrous,
and advised action with a view to the reversal
of the decision. The Council endorsed this
opinion, and a deputation representing the
National Institute, the London Teachers
Association (the London Branch of the
National Union of Teachers), the College of
Teachers of the Blind, and the National Union
of Professional and Industrial Blind waited
on the Teaching Staff Sub-Committee of
the L.C.C. and put forward a very powerful
case. The decision of the L.C.C. has not yet
been communicated.
The case for the blind teacher has been
admirably stated by Dr. E. G. Dowdell,
Lecturer in Economics, St. John's College,
Oxford, who has just been elected a member
of the Executive Council of the National
Institute, in a letter addressed to the Editor of
" Education," which we reprint below.
To the Editor of " Education."
Sir, — May I, as an old pupil of two schools
for the blind who has had particularly good
opportunities of testing the value of the
education there given, crave the hospitality of
your columns for a plea in favour of the
continued employment of blind teachers in
such schools ? I do so more particularly
because the London County Council have
recently decided to abandon their old policy
in this matter, and it seems to me that their
decision, if carried into effect, will have most
unfortunate consequences. Blind persons
who wish to become teachers will obviously
suffer, but, as I observe from the Press that
their interests are being championed by the
National Union of Teachers, it is only
necessary to deal here with the point of view
of the taught.
Before going further, it will be well to
explain that I began my education at a
London County Council school which had a
blind head teacher and a sighted assistant.
Thence I went to the Royal Normal College,
the founder of which, Sir Francis Campbell,
was blind, and which has always been staffed
by teachers, some with, and some without,
sight. Throughout my twelve years at these
schools I was under blind teachers for the
PAGE
27
BEACON
greater part of the time, and the efficiency of
their work is not open to question in view of
the academic distinctions which I was fortun-
ate enough to gain subsequently. I am
naturally concerned at the threatened des-
truction of part of the system which laid the
foundation of my own success, and I venture
to hope that those responsible for deter-
mining these matters may attach some
importance to my experience.
That teacher and pupil should be " in the
same boat " has one obvious advantage in
that the former can readily appreciate the
latter 's difficulties, without exaggerating them.
If a lazy undergraduate, in bringing me an
unfinished essay, were to plead that I could
not realise the power of the cinema tempta-
tion to which he was a prey, my own experi-
ence, which does not include cinemas, would
not provide an entirely satisfactory retort.
The difficulties of the sighted teacher of
blind children are of this nature, but are far
more serious, and meet him at every turn. If
he has blind colleagues to consult he can
ascertain from them whether troubles are real
ur feigned. Otherwise, he is almost certain
often to coax where he should drive and drive
where he should coax. Such a position may-
be productive of much harm.
There is another very important point. In
educating the blind it is essential to convince
them from the outset that they have good
prospects, despite their handicap, provided
they exert themselves to the full. Contact
with successful blind teachers gives a kind of
encouragement which, I think, nothing else
can. Stories of what blind people have done
in the past will not suffice, since the average
child will associate them with other tales of
prodigies, which have no connection with his
own life. Defeatism is a habit of mind and
cannot be cured by mere argument. In a
school where there are blind teachers, how-
ever, blindness takes its place, along with
logarithms and Latin irregular verbs, as a
difficulty which looks terrifying, but which
is not insurmountable, since it has been
conquered by people whom one knows and
regards as quite ordinary human beings. The
child of normal grit will not allow himself to
be frightened for long by obstacles of this
kind. For blind children who lack confidence,
efficient teaching is of little use, but for those
who have it successful careers are open in
many walks of life.
I need hardly add that 1 would not for a
moment advocate the exclusive employment
of blind teachers. Nor would I wish to
support the claims of any who are not properly
qualified. With these provisos, however, I
would appeal in the strongest possible terms
for the continuance of mixed staffs, a system
which has already produced excellent results
and may be made to work even better in the
future.
Yours, etc.,
E. G. Dowdell, M.A.. D.Phil.,
Lecturer in Economics,
St. John's College, Oxford.
PERSONALIA
Sir Richard Paget, Bart., has, owing to
business reasons, resigned from the Executive
Council of the National Institute for the
Blind. It is with very deep regret that the
Institute loses his services, which were
particularly valuable in connection with
educational problems concerning the blind.
His scientific knowledge was a great asset to
the Education and Research Committee, and
it will be difficult to replace an adviser who
gave so much time to the service of the blind
and who brought so wide an experience to
problems connected with the scientific
amelioration of the handicap of blindness.
Sir Gerald Hurst, K.C., M.P., owing to
pressure of other work, has tendered his
resignation from the Executive Council of
the National Institute.
Mr. John Beresford Heaton, has been
elected a member of the Institute's Council,
as a representative of the Metropolitan and
Adjacent Counties Association for the Blind.
SDr. E. G. Dowdell, Lecturer in Economics
St. John's College, Oxford — who is himself
blind — has also been elected a member of the
Institute's Council.
Mr. W. J. Merridan, representing the
Royal Normal College for the Blind, has been
appointed a member of the Institute's
Publications Sub-Committee.
Major J. M. Forsdyke, has recently
accepted the position of Hon. Treasurer to
the Worthing Society for Befriending the
Blind.
PAGE
BEACON
HOME NEWS
Rossendale Society Winter Treat.
The Annual Winter Treat of the Rossendale Society tor Visiting and Instructing
the Blind was held on January 8th, at the Bacup Liberal Club Assembly Rooms. Alder-
man Brierley, Mayor of Bacup, was Chairman. Tea was followed by a concert given
by Heald Choir and friends.
Board of Education Representative to International Conference.
The British Government is sending Dr. L. E. Underwood, as a representative of
the Board of Education, to the forthcoming International Conference on Work for the
Blind, to be held in New York. This is in addition to the two representatives of the
Ministry of Health, named in last month's issue of The New Beacon.
Government Contract for the Blind.
The Bolton Workshops for the Blind have secured a large Government contract tor
brushes for the army.
Mr. F. T. Owen, the organiser of the workshops, informed the Press that the order
was more than twice as large as any previous one from the Government and meant that
half the Brush Department would be kept busy for eight months. The Bolton Workshops
have been working on full time for nine years.
Proposed Home for Mentally Retarded Blind Children.
The Executive Council of the National Institute for the Blind lias approved a
scheme for starting a School for Mentally Retarded Blind Children at
" Court Grange," Abbotskerswell, Devonshire. This house, the gift of the Rev. A. T.
Dence, has heretofore been used as one of the Sunshine Homes for Blind Babies, but the
babies living there since the destruction by fire of the first Sunshine Home at Chorley
Wood, Herts, are now at East Grinstead (sec page 36).
Free Travelling Facilities for the Blind.
Mr. Hore-Belisha asked the Minister of Transport in the House of Commons last
month, whether arrangements could be made with the railway companies to afford
indigent blind persons in institutions free travelling facilities when they are going to
their homes on leave. Mr. H. Morrison replied that he had no powers in this matter,
but would communicate with the railway companies, and advise Mr. Hore-Belisha of
the result.
Dinner Party to the Worthing Blind.
On January 20th, the blind people of Worthing were entertained to dinner by the
Worthing Society for Befriending the Blind — this being the Society's fifth Annual New
Year's Dinner Party. The Rev. E. W. D. Penfold presided, and he was supported by
the Mayor and Mayoress of Worthing and other well-known local people. Mr. F. A.
Sly (Hon. Superintendent) did much to make the arrangements for the evening successful.
Dinner was followed by a concert, to which Mr. W. Perry, himself blind, contributed a
violin solo.
A Wireless Information Bureau for the Blind.
The Royal Normal College Radio Society was started in June, 1930, its members
being students interested in Radio Science and its object being the furtherance of all
matters connected with it.
The Society now proposes to establish an Information Bureau. It is felt that a
Wireless Information Bureau would be found very helpful to many blind persons who
possess wireless sets or who may be interested" in wireless. All queries must be
accompanied by a stamped wrapper or envelope, and addressed to The Secretary, Royal
Normal College Radio Society, Upper Norwood, S.E.to.
PAGE
29
BEACON
WIRELESS FOR THE BLIND.
Review of the Work of the Wireless Fund.
JUST over a year ago — at Christmas-
time, 1929 — the British " Wireless
for the Blind " Fund was inaugur-
ated, with the object of providing,
as far as was practicable, every
blind person resident in Great
Britain and Northern Ireland with
a wireless set.
To-day, £30,000 in cash has been contri-
buted to the Fund, and over 7,500 sets have
been supplied to the blind, while it is estim-
ated that, by the end of next April, 15,000
sets in all will have been distributed.
Behind these very satisfactory figures is a
story full of interest — a story of co-operation
on the part of Agencies for the Blind, gener-
osity on the part of the public, and appreci-
ation on the part of the blind themselves.
Before the Fund was established, the
extraordinary and unique value of wireless to
the blind, both as a means of enlightenment
and as a means of entertainment, had been
recagnised by most people concerned in the
welfare of the blind, and numerous efforts
had been mid; in different districts or by
individual Institutions to provide free wireless
sets. All Agencies for the Blind, however,
readily acknowledged the advantages of a
central Fund, and there was no difficulty at all
in forming a thoroughly representative Com-
mittee, under the Presidency of H.R.H. the
Prince of Wales and the Chairmanship of
Capt. Sir Beachcroft Towse, V.C.
On this Committee the British Broadcasting
Corporation was represented, and here it may
be said that without the help of the B.B.C.
the Fund would have been an impossibility.
Long before the initiation of the Fund,
officials at the B.B.C. had shewn a constant
interest in the needs of blind listeners, and
the foundation of the " Braille Radio Times "
marked the beginning of a close and constant
relationship between the B.B.C. and the
Blind World. Since the Fund started the
help of the B.B.C. has taken innumerable
forms ; many of its officials have given hours
of their spare time working for the Fund, and
their technical knowledge and general influ-
ence have always been at the Fund's service.
Invaluable help has also been given to the
PAGE
30
Fund by two distinguished gentlemen : the
Rt. Hon. Reginald McKenna, who has acted
as Hon. Treasurer, and the Rt. Hon. Winston
Churchill, M.P. Mr. Churchill has been
responsible for raising the bulk of the money.
He launched the Fund by an Appeal broadcast
from all Stations of the B.B.C. on Christmas
Day, 1929, which brought in a sum of £12,000
in cash and supplemented this magnificent
effort by a further broadcast Appeal on Christ-
mas Day, 1930, which has, up-to-date,
brought in a sum of £5,000. Fvery blind
person who to-day possesses a wireless set
through the Fund should have a very warm
spot in his heart for Mr. Churchill, who has
shewn himself so true a friend to the sightless.
Other broadcast Appeals were those of
Capt. Ian Fraser, C.B.E., Vice-Chairman of
the Fund, in October — following the broad-
cast of a Concert provided by blind artistes —
and of the Conductor of the Wireless Morning
Services, on the two mornings after the
Concert. These Appeals brought in a sum
of £6,000.
All these broadcast Appeals represent the
practical sympathy, with the object of the
Fund, of the B.B.C., who backed them all by
extensive publicity in the "Radio Times," and
further, presented to the Fund the fee waived
by the Football Association for broadcasting
the Cup Final in 1930.
The Wireless Trade and the Wireless Press
— especially the "Wireless Trader" — have also
extensively helped the Fund. Immediately
after Mr. Churchill's first Appeal, the
Radio Manufacturers' Association promised
to provide 1,000 single valve sets with full
equipment. The Association also gave a free
Stand to the Fund at the Daily Mail " Ideal
Home " Exhibition at Olympia in March,
1930, from which Appeals were broadcast
throughout the Exhibition every day by
different notabilities, and all the stall-holders
in the Wireless Section had collecting boxes
at their Stands. A sum of £500 was the
result. The Association likewise provided a
free Stand at the Radio Exhibition last year.
Over 1,100 Wireless Retailers undertook to
make collections in their shops, etc. — bringing
in over £1,000 — and circularised likely people
BEACON
for offers of voluntary assistance in the
installation of sets. Wireless Wholesalers
have contributed to the Fund personally and
arranged collections. The Trade in general
has supplied accessories, such as headphones,
coils and aerial equipment, at very generous
discounts.
It is impossible to mention all the forms of
help given to the Fund but especially note-
worthy are the following : — H.M. the King
graciously presented to the Fund the royalties
forthcoming from the H.M.V. record of his
speech at the opening of the Naval Confer-
ence, which by the end of June, 1930, resulted
in a sum of £250, sales being effected in all
countries ; a most munificent donor provided,
through the Fund, 200 valve sets for the blind
of Gloucestershire and undertook to meet the
annual cost of maintaining the sets ; Mr.
Lionel Powell organised a Concert at the
Albert Hall and presented to the Fund the
ordinary proceeds and the fee he received
from the B.B.C. for the broadcasting of the
Concert ; a Concert organised in Croydon
brought in sufficient money to provide all
blind residents in the borough with wireless
sets.
Speaking generally, it can be confidently
asserted that the Appeal has touched the hearts
of the British public. It has induced the
people of means to send their cheques ; the
less prosperous to spare a few pounds ; the
poor to send their shillings. The aged have
saved a mite from their pensions for the
cause ; old soldiers, hardly earning a living
— even the unemployed — have sent what thev
could ; and hundreds of children have
voluntarily saved their pennies to give light
to the blind through the Fund.
But to achieve its object the Fund still
requires the sum of £15,000. Without doubt,
however, this sum will soon be forthcoming,
especially as we understand that H.R.H. the
Prince of Wales will show his personal
interest in the Fund by his presence at a
function to be arranged about the end of next
May.
Let us now consider how the Fund has been
administered. The first duty of the Commit-
tee was to obtain exact details as to the number
of sets required. It would have been unwise
to obtain these details before the Fund had
been launched as, in the event of a poor
response, false hopes might have been aroused
and the blind bitterly disappointed. But the
response to Mr. Churchill's first Appeal fully
justified the inquiry.
Accordingly, early in 1930 the Committee,
through the Counties Associations for the
Blind, circularised all Agencies for the Blind
in Great Britain and Northern Ireland with
forms asking for returns shewing the local
requirements for (a) those blind people with
normal hearing, (b) those requiring more
powerful sets. It is obvious that these returns
were very difficult to make and entailed much
work on the part of Local Agencies, but the
Agencies and Counties Associations accom-
plished the task so competently and expediti-
ously that practically all returns were
completed by the end of May, 1930.
They shewed that 18,000 sets of all kinds
were needed, while supplementary lists
rendered have brought the total requirements
up to 20,000 sets.
From these returns it was possible to decide
the types of set suitable for each district.
Decisions were based more or less on the
following facts : — Crystal sets should be
efficient within 50 miles of a Regional
Station, in districts covered by the Regional
Scheme of the B.B.C. ; beyond this limit,
one-valve sets would be necessary for those
witli normal hearing ; one-valve sets might
also be required in certain places within
Regional Scheme districts where effective
aerials could not be erected ; while at least
two- valve sets would be needed, firstly, by
those blind people in Regional areas whose
additional infirmities prohibited the use of
headphones, and secondly, by blind people
residing in areas too far from existing B.B.C.
Stations or proposed Regional Stations.
Whilst the returns were being prepared, a
Technical Sub-Committee appointed by the
Fund was, in co-operation with the B.B.C.
Technical Experts and Dr. Eccles, designing
crystal sets especially for the blind and
capable of receiving at good headphone
strength the alternative programmes offered
by the Regional Scheme of the B.B.C, which
had just been initiated. 250 sets were ordered
and tested on existing aerials in the homes of
the blind, who were asked to fill in a card
shewing the results obtained. The final
design of the crystal set was approved by the
time the returns as to requirements were
completed, and an initial order of 6,000 was
placed.
Before the Fund was launched it had been
decided that the distribution of sets should be
PAGE
31
BEACON
through the Local Agencies. Accordingly,
distribution through Local Agencies of these
6,000 crystal sets began in July, 1930, and
continued until October. The sets were
distributed equably to areas where crystal-set
reception was possible. Certain difficulties
naturally arose. Even in such districts as
London, technically a crystal-set area, it was
found that in several instances there were
screened localities where valve sets were
necessary. A technical representative has
visited most of these " difficult " localities in
England and Wales and investigated con-
ditions. In some cases, merely a little advice
on how to use crystal sets was needed ; in
others, it was considered necessary to replace,
when possible, crystal sets by valve sets.
It should here be mentioned that the Fund's
Committee has decided that the distribution
of sets shall march hand in hand with the
progress of the Regional Scheme of the B.B.C.
For example, the supply of sets in the
metropolitan areas, covered by the B.B.C.
Station at Brookman's Park, will be followed
by a supply of crystal sets or one-valve sets
to the large areas in Lancashire and Yorkshire
which will be covered by the new Northern
Regional Station, shortly to be opened at
Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield. Bearing in
mind further developments of the Regional
Scheme, crystal sets are also being supplied to
districts close to existing Stations.
Having completed the design for a crystal
set, the next step before the Fund's Technical
Sub-Committee was to design a suitable
one-valve set. In October, 1930, 250 one-
valve sets were manufactured and sent to
different parts of the country for testing.
These tests were very satisfactory, and a
contract for 5,000 one-valve sets was placed
in December last. Distribution at a regular
rate of 500 per week has now begun. Amongst
these sets are included the 1,000 sets given
by the Radio Manufacturers' Association.
Continuing its investigations, the Technical
Sub-Committee found that in certain parts
of the country, for example, Devonshire,
Cornwall, North Wales and the North of
Scotland, neither crystal nor one-valve sets
were serviceable. For these districts a special
two-valve set was designed, and 1 ,000 of these
sets were ordered in January of this year.
Distribution begins this month at the rate of
200 per week.
In some districts, such as Brighton, Hull
and Swindon, a relay service is in operation.
PAGE
32
This service is supplied by companies who,
by arrangement with the B.B.C. and the
G.P.O., instal a big amplifier and link up by
wire to private homes, where only a loud-
speaker is used. To the blind resident in
these districts the Fund is supplying loud-
speakers, while the relay companies have
waived their installation and service fees.
The installation of sets has been undertaken
generally by volunteers, amongst whom are
members of the Wireless League, Toe H and
the Boy Scouts, and over 900 Wireless
Retailers.
It is of interest to note that the total number
of wireless licences issued to the blind — they
are issued without charge — amounted last
year to 19,460.
The above details show that the Fund has
not stood still until the total amount of money
required has been raised. " Appeal " and
" Service " have progressed so steadily side
by side that it is not too optimistic to hope
that by the end of the present year every
blind person in Great Britain and Northern
Ireland will be able to take advantage of the
great benefits afforded by wireless. Thatthese
are not over-estimated in value is apparent
from the many letters of thanks and appreci-
ation received by the Fund, a few extracts
from which are given below.
" She has now something to help her enjoy life
and to keep in touch with the world at large."
" The set works perfectly. My wife sends her
grateful thanks to you."
" I appreciate the wireless set very much. The
music is beautiful and on Christmas morning
we had a beautiful Service."
" The wireless set is grand. I am ever so pleased
with it."
' ' The set is in perfect order and I am sure it will
prove a great pleasure to my mother."
" He very much enjoys the music which helps to
pass away many a long hour."
" The set is a great boon and comfort to my
husband in brightening many weary hours."
When every blind person in this country
possesses a wireless set the object of the
British " Wireless for the Blind " Fund will
have been achieved. Maintenance of sets,
services to meet future developments in
wireless, and many similar matters, form
problems which are not within the scope of
the Fund, but which will doubtless receive
the attention of all who are convinced that
wireless is one of the simplest, most bene-
ficent and inexpensive means of alleviating
the affliction of blindness.
BEACON
MEMORIES OF SIXTY YEARS.
IT seems a very conceited thing to do.
Who on earth would want to read
your life ? " asked a candid friend
when Lord Sanderson confided to
him that he intended to write his
memoirs. Fortunately, the author
was not deterred, and " The Mem-
ories of Sixty Years " (Methuen & Co., 10/6
net) with its gaiety, simplicity and friendliness
is the best refutation of the friend's premature
criticism ; for it is a very readable book.
Lord Sanderson, formerly Henry Sanderson
Furniss till he received his peerage last year
for educational services, has been blind from
infancy and this is perhaps one reason why
his memories should make a special appeal
to those interested in eminent blind men ;
but though he never actually ignores his
handicap of blindness it is treated throughout
the book as something that interests the
writer so little that the reader is apt to forget
it. "I have had to live and work under a
serious disability " he admits " but this has
been largely compensated for by a complete
absence of other ills. I have suffered little
bodily pain, I have not known poverty, I have
not experienced unkind or cruel treatment."
Lord Sanderson's father was a Spartan
and an autocrat in the upbringing of his
children ; his son's blindness was a grief and
disappointment to him and he determined
as far as might be to shut his eyes to it,
going so far all his life as to refer to his son
merely as " rather short sighted."
The writer does not attempt to excite
sympathy in his account of his childhood,
though it is pathetic to read of his unending
struggle to take part in the outdoor games of
his brother and his friends, and the picture
he draws of the small boy who, after being
told by his school fellows that he could not
share their fives, wandered disconsolately in
the garden muttering " I am not such a fool
as they think me, I'm not such a fool as they
think me " is rather a touching one. But
though Lord Sanderson tried to take part in
almost every outdoor game in childhood,
including even tennis, croquet and cricket,
he decided when he grew up that he was apt
to spoil the game and the pleasure of the
other players, and finally gave up all sports
except rowing and swimming.
As a result of his father's refusal to acknow-
ledge his blindness he was not taught to read
Braille and did not even know of its existence
till he went up to Oxford in 1889 at the age
of 21, though his sight had never permitted
him to read anything but type so large that
hardly anything was printed in it except parts
of the Bible. As a small child he attended a
Kindergarten, and at the age of 13 was sent
to a private tutor who had a living in East
Anglia and took five or six pupils, sent there
because they were for the most part either
" too delicate or too stupid or too immoral "
to be at public schools ; it is not surprising
to read that Lord Sanderson's years there
decided him that no boy should go to a private
tutor who can be educated in any other way.
As a blind boy individual tuition was im-
portant for him, especially as he had no
knowledge of Braille, but the other dis-
advantages far outweighed the good, and
nobody but a boy of sound character with
a good home background could have escaped
serious moral and mental contamination.
The account of his undergraduate days is
full of interest and like the rest of the book
has little friendly touches in it which make
it very attractive — " I never could get up any
enthusiasm for early English constitutional
history and never could succeed in translating
the Charter. In fact I am afraid I didn't try
very hard " is a confession that makes of the
writer a very human person. Lord Sanderson
took a Second Class in the History School,
and as Oxford had aroused in him a very keen
interest in Economics he decided, on going
down, to settle in Clifton with a friend, and
to study there. He was interested in Labour
questions, but not at this time from a Labour
standpoint, and to his father's satisfaction he
joined the Committee of the Bristol Charity
Organisation Society. He and the friend with
whom he lived were both musical, and in
connection with their C.O.S. work helped to
send the fifteen-year-old daughter of a street
musician to be trained at the Royal College
of Music. The little girl was Marie Hall.
In 1902 Lord Sanderson married and settled
down in London, but three years later moved
to Oxford and studied for the Diploma in
Economics, which he obtained with distinc-
tion. With his return to Oxford he came into
touch almost at once with the work of Ruskin
College, which had been founded some few
PAGE
33
BEACON
years previous for the university education
of working men, and at the request of Mr.
Lees-Smith, the present Postmaster- General,
he agreed to become its Tutor and lecturer
in Economics. He and his wife were both
" good Conservatives," and though his father
had sometimes, after the manner of Victorian
fathers, been " afraid that Harry was a bit
of a Radical " such extravagances were never
taken very seriously.
The account given of Ruskin College is
delightfully written and there are little inti-
mate vignettes of some of its personalities.
We read of Vrooman, an American, who had
founded it and is described as having had
" peculiar ideas about food. He thought
that people should eat only when they were
hungry and he had bags of oatmeal and apples,
loaves of bread, pieces of cheese put about
the house so that anyone could help himself
when he felt inclined." Then there was
Dennis Hird, the first principal of the College,
who had been Secretary of the Church of
England Temperance Society but gave up
his work as his interests shifted to the
repudiation of the National Debt ; he was
very little at the College and spent long week-
ends on a small farm, to which students were
invited for change and country air, combined
with very strenuous hay-making. " Total
lack of discipline " in the College under Hird,
and hours devoted to altercations with
students on such matters as to whether
bananas should be served for tea, made the
writer's life very difficult and finally matters
came to a head and the Principal was pen-
sioned off, Dr. Gilbert Slater taking his place.
Political work naturally occupies a good
part of the Memoirs, as both Lord Sanderson
and his wife were keenly interested, first as
Liberals, and later in the cause of Labour,
while naturally also the work of the Workers
Educational Association appealed strongly to
them. A chapter in the book is devoted to an
account of the influences which changed the
writer from a " pronounced individualist "
into a convinced Socialist.
During the War Lord Sanderson offered
his services to the Workers Educational
Association and was given charge of the
South-eastern district ; in addition to this he
edited a volume of economic essays entitled
" The Industrial Outlook," undertook lecture
tours in the Potteries, and still kept in touch
with Ruskin College ; actually during the
War the work of the College had been sus-
PAGE
34
pended for residential students, though
correspondence courses were carried on.
In 1916 Lord Sanderson was appointed
Principal of Ruskin, and as the ordinary work
of the College had ceased for the time he
organised a series of Conferences in connec-
tion with reconstruction after the War, helped
in the Oxford summer school, attended the
Trades Union Congress, lectured for the
Workers Educational Association, and finally
stood for the University of Oxford as a
Labour candidate, but without success. In
the October of 19 19 he returned to Oxford as
Principal of Ruskin College, which now
included women students, a hostel having
been opened for these. Undergraduates,
whether men or women, are not the easiest
people in the world to manage, and the
students at Ruskin College were men who
came from a great variety of trades ; some
had served in the War, some had been
imprisoned as conscientious objectors, some
were Socialists, and some Communists,
while nearly all were considerably older than
the ordinary student. Discipline could not
have been easy, and the " large family party "
spirit could only have been maintained with
great sympathy, tact, and understanding.
Continued hard work led to a temporary
breakdown in Lord Sanderson's health in
1923 and complete rest and a long sea voyage
were prescribed, which led to a long holiday
in Australia ; he returned much benefited in
health but unfit to continue the very strenuous
work of a College Principal and resigned in
1925. The following year was largely taken
up by a tour in South Africa with its " beauti-
ful country and delightful climate and its
friendly people," overshadowed, however, by
bitter feeling on racial questions.
A visit to America followed in 1928 and on
his return both the writer and his wife once
more took up political work and stood as
Labour candidates in the Oxford Council,
though they were not returned.
Here the book ends, for Lord Sanderson,
with characteristic modesty, makes no allusion
to the peerage conferred on him in 1930.
His last words are perhaps worth quoting —
" At 61 I am able once more to enjoy life to
the full — eager indeed to go forward into any
new adventure which life may still hold for
me." Those who read his Memories will
hope that it holds many, for so gallant and
kindly and modest an adventurer surely
deserves them.
(^yftcO\fcw
Published by \J L l\ i I 1 IX. Editorial Offices:
the Notional I^W |~^ /^\ I I I ^ 224 Great Port-
Institute for II / 1\ /\ / ^ land Street,
the Blind M^r tL^dl Bl V S ^^_y JL ^1 London, W.\.
NEW FIELDS TO CONQUER.
WHEN people personally unacquainted with welfare work for the blind are
brought into actual contact with such work, they invariably express a
considerable degree of astonishment. Why is this so ? It can scarcely be
due to complete ignorance ; work for the blind is widely advertised, both in
appeals for funds and in the press. Neither can it be due to habitual heed-
lessness ; sympathy with the blind is almost instinctive in all people with
sight and is an emotion of the most delicate sensitiveness. Nor is it due to
the rarity of blind people ; they are, unfortunately, only too often encountered in the streets of
all big cities. This last fact, perhaps, provides an answer to the question. Every day the blind
are to be seen walking in the streets, and to the casual observer a very great number of them
are obviously poor and dependent and, apparently, unhappy. Therefore, when such a casual
observer enters an institution for the blind and sees happy, capable and industrious blind people
at work ; when he examines the many ingenious means of alleviating blindness ; when he
becomes acquainted with bonnie blind children, ambitious blind undergraduates, blind men
successful in the professions, blind veterans in happy retirement after a long and useful career;
is it not natural that he should be profoundly astonished ? For he finds his general impression
of the blind as poor, dependent and unhappy creatures to be entirely false.
Yet is it entirely false ?
Bearing in mind the statistics showing thousands of blind unemployables, and thousands of
blind workers earning but a mere pittance, can any worker for the blind honestly affirm that
the impression of the casual observer is totally incorrect ?
Although great progress has been made in ameliorating the lot of the blind in this country
during the past fifty years, a greater task awaits us in the next fifty years. Work for the blind
must never be static ; it must always be moving towards the conquest of new fields, and of them,
there is no dearth.
No institution for the blind should circumscribe its objects by past achievements or existing
activities. The blind often criticise the work carried en in their aid by people with sight.
Such criticism, natural tnough even when unwarranted, is amply justified if directed against
work carried on in the name of the blind but without that vision which, to a peculiar degree,
must be exercised in work for the blind. It is " vision " that makes the local agency eager
to help a neighbouring local agency and to co-operate harmoniously with national work ; it is
" vision " that leads the directors of national work to think imperially and to recognise the
existence of the millions of blind people within the boundaries of the British Empire, who offer
fields of philanthropic endeavour almost appalling in their vastness. But rather than appal, such
problems should kindle a high spirit of enthusiasm in minds scornful of the degrading spirit
of complacency.
That the spirit of progressive enthusiasm exists is proved by the " team " work now being
accomplished in this country by practically all agencies for the blind ; by recent developments
in work for the blind in different parts of the Empire, such as the Irish Free State, South Africa,
Cyprus and Gibraltar, in which, as far as possible, our own national institutions are assisting ;
by the close relationship existing between national institutions in the Mother country and in
the Dominions ; by the steps which are being taken to arouse interest in the million-and-a-half
blind and the four-and-a-half million partially blind people of India ; by the extension cf
facilities for obtaining cheap Braille literature and music to all parts of the Empire.
These are all signs that welfare work for the blind is to-day a living, dynamic force, capable
of great possibilities, and determined to fight ever anew against the poverty, dependence and
unhappiness which still exists amongst the blind people of this country and of the British Empire.
The Editor.
PAGE
35
BEACON
THE SUNSHINE TREKKERS
How a Train Journey Tested Good Training.
AST month we reproduced a photo-
graph of Capt. Sir Beachcroft
Towse, V.C., Chairman of the
National Institute for the Blind,
welcoming at Paddington the
blind babies who were being
taken from " Court Grange,"
Abbotskerswell, Devonshire, to the Institute's
new Sunshine Home at East Grinstead,
Sussex. We give below an amusing account
by the Matron of the babies' journev, and a
brief description of the new Home.
The 29 blind babies in residence at Court
Grange were moved in two parties — 1 1 babies
in arms travelling with some of the Nursing
Staff three days in advance of the main party.
The second party of 18 school children
(aged 3-5) were very excited at the prospect
of a journey in a train — some of them
remembered travelling down from London
two years previously — all had been discussing
the move for days beforehand and all had
many questions to ask.
The babies entrained at 12.20 p.m. after an
early dinner and a tremendous dressing-up
in best clothes, and after a very hearty send-
off from their many friends who had assembled
at Newton Abbot Station.
From the moment the train commenced to
move, their enjoyment of the journey seemed
intensified and the rocking and the noise
especially delighted them.
However, they were all placed full length
on the carriage seats, given a pillow and rug
each, told it was their usual " silence hour,"
and in a very short time were all asleep.
At 2.45 p.m. they were awakened and given
their usual " tea " — bread and butter and
"he new "Sunshine House" at East Grinstead
honey, and a biscuit each, but hot milk
substituted for their usual cocoa.
One child of 4 years complained that he
was given milk " just like babies drink " and
left us with a very uncomfortable feeling that
he might report it to the Press, but we assured
him it would not occur again.
When nearing the end of the journey, the
Dining-Car Attendants presented each child
with one shilling. They had collected £2 5s.
from the travellers on the train and after
deducting the 18s., had spent the remainder
on milk-chocolate and chocolate biscuits, so
the babies started at East Grinstead with a
well-stocked sweet cupboard.
After tea, there was a general washing of
hands and faces, dressing up and getting
ready for London, and at 3.45 p.m. all the
babies detrained and were met and welcomed
by the chairman of the National Institute,
Capt. Sir Beachcroft Towse, V.C.
There was a row of Press Photographers
also to welcome them and after one or two
false starts some very satisfactory pictures of
the babies were taken. John Pike (aged 5)
was guilty of one " hold-up " — he gave a
piercing scream and when he had gathered a
large and sympathetic audience, confided to
them that Betty (aged 4), his next-door
neighbour, had put her hand into his pocket
—with, I conclude, a burglarious intent.
The babies travelled from Paddington to
East Grinstead by motor coaches — still very
good and very happy — singing nursery rhymes
and school songs the greater part of the way.
They were all^bathed on arrival, given hot
drinks and|put^to bed, and in the morning
were ] ready] to^explore Home and garden
before we were ready to
conduct them.
The journey of over 200
miles did not apparently
affect them at all — not one
of the 79 babies cried, not
one was sick, and the only
casualty was a lost glove —
which the child made good
by taking another child's
glove ! !
Sunshine Home, East
Grinstead, is literally what
its name implies— a house of
PACK
36
BEACON
sunshine. Entering the front Hall, you find the
walls and staircase walls distempered in orange,
and even with only a pale wintry sun shining
you get an impression of brightness and light.
The babies' dining room is equally cheerful.
The walls are coloured a deep lemon yellow —
also the playroom, around which runs a
delightful Punchinello frieze.
Various generous friends of the babies gave
them two new rocking-horses and four new
rocking-boats, so the playroom is now a hive
of industrial pleasure.
The school-room is also decorated in lemon
yellow. It is very large with a window seat
that holds all the scholars for their morning
hymns and prayer.
Upstairs are four nurseries, all distempered
in pale primrose yellow, and into every
nursery the sun enters at some time of the day.
On this floor is the babies' bathroom — with
its three gay fixed baths — each bath painted
outside a pillar-box red. Each child has his
own pigeon hole for brush, comb, tooth-brush
and mug, and a division for his bath-towel.
The equipment of the bathroom has been
properly completed in the babies' eyes by a
gift of floating animals — their favourite
animal being a duck with a small puncture
which slowly fills with water and drowns.
A well-equipped and business-like surgery
is also on this floor. All the babies visit the
surgery at S.30 a.m. for treatment and a sweet.
There is an Isolation Ward with its own
bathroom, day nursery and night nursery-
complete and self-contained — in which all new
patients are kept for their first three weeks.
A feature of the new Home will be an
Observation Ward for border-line cases, that
is, babies whose mentality is not strictly normal
but appears capable of re-adjustment under
careful treatment. The arrangements for
this ward have not yet, however, been
completed.
The top floor consists of nursing and
domestic staff's bedrooms and bathrooms.
The views from the Home over the garden
are very lovely ; one, consisting of a spinney
and pond, is very similar to a Court Grange
view.
In the garden the babies have plenty of
lawn, also a " slope " and a " rough " (long
grass), both of which they like.
The vegetable garden is large and we
should be entirely self-supporting. [Sup-
porters of the Homes should be reminded that
Matron is referring only to vegetables ! — Ed.]
I hope if any readers of The New Beacon
find themselves in our neighbourhood, they
will come and see the Home. The babies
like very much to take visitors around.
COMPETITIONS FOR THE BLIND.
THE National Institute for the
Blind, with a view to the
encouragement of literary
ability amongst the blind,
has decided o run a
Literary Competition, open
to the blind throughout the
world.
Competitors will be divided into two Classes ,
(a) Adults (over 18), (b) Juveniles (under 18),
and prizes amounting in total to £45 will be
awarded to the senders of 1) the best Lyric,
(2) the best Essay, (3) the best Review of a
Book, as follows ■ —
CLASS A.ADUL TS ( Over 18). Pri.
~-es.
1st.
2nd.
'Lyric £6
Lz
2. Essay . . . . . . /ft
13
3. Rev ew of a Book . . /6
£3
CLASS B, JUVENILES {Under 18).
l- Lyric £4
&
2- £ssay La
£2
3. Review of a Book . . £4
£2
Mr. Frank Whitaker, Acting Editor of the
famous John o London's Weekly, who has
exceptional experience in Literary Competi-
tions of all kinds, has very kindly consented
to act as Judge.
The Rules for both Classes, A and B, are
as follows : —
(1) Lyrics may be on any subject or be in any
metrical form, but should contain not less
than 12 lines or more than 24 lines.
(2) Essays may be on any subject, but should
not exceed 1,000 words n length.
(3) Reviews should not exceed 500 words in
'ength and should be of any one of the
following books : —
For Class A Competitors : — " Inimitable
Jeaves," by P. C. Wodehouse ; " Forti-
tude," by Hugh Walpole ; and " The
Key Above the Door," by M. Walsh.
For Class B Competitors : — " Kim," by
Rudyard Kipling ; " Typhoon," by
Joseph Conrad ; and " The Three
Hostages," by John Buchan.
PAGE
37
BEACON
All these books are obtainable in Braille
either on loan from the National Library
for the Blind and other libraries or by
purchase from the National Institute for
the Blind. " The Key above the Door,"
by M. Walsh, is published by the Royal
Blind Asylum and School, Craigmillar
Park, Edinburgh.
(4) Competitors can enter for one subject or
all subjects in the Class to which their
age entitles them to enter, but only one
effort may be submitted in each subject.
(5) Full name, age and postal address must
be given at the head of the first page of
the Lyric, Essay or Review submitted.
(6) Entries may be handwritten, typewritten
or in Braille, but great care should be
taken to secure legibility and correctness
of phraseology, spelling and punctuation.
The lines of lyrics should not run on,
either in script or in Braille, but each
line should begin on a new line of writing.
(7) All attempts must be in the English
language, but the Competition is open to
certified blind people of all nationalities.
(8) Each attempt must be the unaided work
of the competitor and no Lyric, Essay or
Review which has been published in
Braille or Letterpress may be submitted.
(9) All entries should be addressed to the
General Editor, " Literary Competition,"
National Institute for the Blind, 224,
Great Portland Street, London, England.
(10) All entries must reach this address by the
30th June, 1931.
(n) The National Institute for the Blind
reserves the right of printing any entry
in its own periodicals and of granting
permission to reprint in other periodicals.
National Braille Reading Competition.
It is hoped that the Austin Memorial
Reading Competition, of which we give details
below, will attract many competitors, and that
there will be a number of entrants. There
are some competitions of too small intrinsic
interest to offer anything to the unsuccessful
candidate, but in the Reading Competition all
who take part, whether prize winners or not,
should come away with the sense of having
enriched their minds by the reading of a
passage of literary value, and of fellowship
from having heard how it is interpreted by
their fellow competitors. Especially we would
like to emphasise that the Reading Competi-
tion is not to be regarded as reserved only for
PAGE
38
the literary and the learned — anyone to whom
reading gives pleasure is very warmly invited
to take part.
The Tenth Meeting of the E. W. Austin
Memorial Reading Competition will be held
at the National Library for the Blind,
London, on Saturday, 14th March.
Unseen passages will be read and prizes
awarded for fluency, ease of diction, and
general expression. Should the entries in any
Class be very limited, prizes will only be
awarded if merited.
ADULT.
A. Advanced Readers, in competition for the
" Blanesburgh " Cup.
B. Other Readers.
JUNIOR.
1. Children under 9 years of age.
2. Those between the ages of 9 and 11.
3. Those between the ages of 11 and 13.
4. Those between the ages of 13 and 16.
Competitors in Classes 1 and 2 to be allowed then-
choice of reading Contracted or Unccntracted
Braille.
An Open Competition for the reading of
unseen passages from Shakespeare will also be
held. Everybody will be eligible to enter for
this event, including all previous winners in
any class.
As the notice is rather short, intending
competitors should send in their names to the
Secretary, 35, Great Smith Street, West-
minster, S.W.i, as early as possible, stating
in which classes they wish to enter.
The announcement of the Braille Reading
Competition of the Northern Branch of the
National Library for the Blind is on page 48.
" Radio Adoption " Scheme.
A correspondent seeks information on the
subject of the " Radio adoption " of blind
people. In his own city, for example, a
Radio Association of wholesalers and retailers
exists, and it has been suggested that each
member shall " adopt " two or three blind
people, with a view to giving them all possible
assistance with their wireless sets, such as the
provision of accessories, aid in the event ol
break-downs and so forth. Our corres-
pondent would be very glad to hear through
The New Beacon if similar schemes are in
force in other parts of the country, and to
obtain details of experiences in running such
schemes.
:ACON
THE STATE AND CHARITABLE
ENDOWMENTS— V.
By BEX PURSE.
" In no country have the rights of proprietorship ever been permitted to be absolute.
In no country has an cuncr of property been permitted to apply it to every purpose, or
'o dispose of it in every zvay that his uncontrolled pleasure might suggest. Alike on the
mployment of property and on the alienation of property, restrictions have always been
mposcd, as uell for the protection of other persons whom the proprietor's acts may directly
iffect, as for the protection of the general interests of the State." C. S. Kenny.
DURING the course of these
articles we have dealt with
the disposition and admin-
istration of charitable
endowments. It has been
urged that we have no
revolutionary changes to
gest, but that the time is opportune for
cting certain reforms which are much
rdue.
The State, calling to its aid the taxpayers
the ratepayers, makes provision on an
)le scale for maternity and child welfare,
►lie health, unemployment, destitution,
owhood and old age." These services
e wont to be left to private benevolence,
are now the very deep concern of the
te. We may therefore claim to deal freely
n those endowments that had for their
;in services that are now provided by the
te, and it is reasonable to assume that old
uests may be applied properly to other and
haps allied objects which may be in
mony with the intention of the founders,
n attempting this, we have behind us the
duable experience of the Charity Com-
sioners and the teachings of social science,
know the tendency of various forms of
rity and can proceed accordingly, not
iming, however, any infallibility, but with
consciousness that the wisdom of some of
own social experiments may not impress
If on a later age. Professor W. K. Clifford
erves : " There are no self-regarding
ues properly so called ; those qualities
ch tend to the advantage and preservation
he individual are only morally right in so
as they make him a more useful citizen."
"he first step towards reform, which of
essity will require legislation, is to deal
1 certain charitable endowments, of which
ley doles are the outstanding and most
nicious example. In view of the scope of
social services, many of these grants
could and should be made illegal. As regards
other forms of endowment, the first consider-
ation should be the public benefit. Although
some recent cases may appear to go as far as
this, yet without legislation it is difficult for
the Court of Chancery to free itself from a
mass of old decisions which bind it to accept
as charitable, endowments that would to-day
be regarded as both unnecessary and un-
desirable.
It frequently happens that original Trusts
fail to frame new schemes under the Cy Frees
rule, so as to provide for the application of the
income of the charity to purposes as similar as
is practicable to the original objects. It
should be observed also that schemes made
by the Charity Commissioners are subject to
the same limitations, and the last named
body rarely propounds new schemes unless
something outrageous is being done by the
administrators of the original Trust.
We have already stressed the point that even
the most prudent and far-seeing founder of a
century ago could never have anticipated and
provided for the social developments of the
present day. There are those in the com-
munity who would have us believe that there
is something necessarily impious in the
attitude which proposes to deal with the
dispositions of old foundations ; but the self-
same State which confers the right to make
such dispositions has always reserved to itself
power to alter, amend, control or modify them
and even to appropriate for relative or other
purposes either the whole or part of such
endowments.
It is not necessary to seek confirmation of
such a conclusion by reference to innumerable
examples supplied by the Middle Ages.
Sufficient evidence can be provided by events
witnessed during the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries, notably the far-reaching reforms of
the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge,
beginning in 1854.
PAGE
39
BEACON
By the Endowed Schools Act, 1869, the
income of an endowed charity applicable for
doles, marriage portions, redemption of
captives, release of poor prisoners for debt,
loans, apprenticeship fees, advancement in
life, or for divers purposes which have failed
altogether or have become obsolete or
insignificant in comparison with the endow-
ment, if originally given for charitable objects
or usages in or before 1800, all such bene-
factions were appropriated for general
educational purposes.
Yet again, the Allotments Extension Act,
1882, authorised the letting as allotments of
land held for the benefit of the poor, if the
existing Trust was for the payment of doles.
Mr. Courtney Kenny says : " We may con-
clude, then, that the recognised principles of
legislation will afford us ample warrant for any
restrictions upon charitable gifts that experi-
ence may show to be desirable. If need be,
we shall be justified in prohibiting them ; or
in accepting them, but forbidding the founder
to fix the nature of the charity, so that the
State may apply the property to fresh uses,
either at once or when the lapse of time
demands."
Under the powers of the London Parochial
Charities Act, 1883, an important and
drastic revision of the London parochial
charities was carried out by the Charity
Commissioners. This Act might properly
form a precedent for legislation leading to a
general revision of endowments. It provided
that the Commissioners should have authority
to exercise, without application, any of the
powers vested in them by the Charitable
Trusts Act, 1853, and the Acts amending the
same, thereby conferring on them power to
make new schemes on their own initiative.
As we have indicated elsewhere, this latter
provision is all-important because it vests
with the Charity Commissioners power and
initiative that is so frequently needed in
order to enable endowments to be utilised for
constructive and beneficent purposes.
The Charitable Trusts Act, 1914, provides
that schemes may be made, extending the
area of a charity restricted to a municipal
borough or to any parish or defined area
therein. Further, if such charity is what is
termed a " Dole Charity," then its funds
shall be applicable for the relief of distress or
sickness, or for improving, by such means as
may be provided in the scheme, the physical,
PAGE
social or moral condition of the poor in the
area as extended.
In addition to these public Acts, there have
been numerous private enactments altering
the terms of the original foundation, or
confirming schemes of the Charity Commis-
sioners made in excess of the powers conferred
on them by the Charitable Trusts Acts ; in
particular schemes modifying, in a manner
absolutely contrary to the founder's intentions,
the doctrines attached to certain Noncon-
formist endowments. In like manner, in the
year .1912, a fund given by a testator for the
purpose of a museum was appropriated for a
Town Hall, and in the following year £5,000
was taken from a charity founded in the
1 6th century for the benefit of " The Poorer
Sort of Clothworkers," and given to the
London City and Guilds Engineering College.
It is important to observe that the legisla-
ture has evinced little consideration for the
intentions of founders in particular cases, and
when the Charity Commissioners have had an
opportunity of applying the Cy Prces doctrine,
they have followed the same example.
A charity of which, under a recent scheme
of the Commissioners, the income is applicable
for the objects of the local council of social
welfare, for education, convalescent treatment,
open spaces, advancement in life, and
emigration, was established 37 years ago for
the purpose of conducting a soup kitchen.
" The principle of endowment is really
protected, and the creation of endowments
stimulated by saving them from mistake,
misuse and disuse, and therefore from
discredit."
It will therefore be obvious that there is no
lack of precedent for adapting charitable
endowments to the requirements of the day
without reference to the original Foundation.
" Private respects must yield to public good."
Writing in this connection, Mr. H. F.
Brown. LL.B., Vice-President, Chester
Council of Social Welfare, says : " Is it not
time, therefore, for legislation of a general
character under which the position of all
endowed charities should be reviewed from
time to time, and those that are not in accord-
ance with the requirements of the day be
adapted to them. In doing this we should
often approach far more closely to the
intention of the founders than by a blind
adherence to the letter of the foundation.
In preserving the letter, the spirit has often
been lost."
BEACON
Alderman Henry Smith of the City oi
London was probably a shrewd business man,
but again to quote Mr. Brown : " He is now
regarded as a public nuisance." Between
1620-1627, he made certain modest bene-
factions, well conceived according to the
knowledge of his day, for the benefit of the
poor and of his own poor relations. His
charity has become " one of the scandals of
endowment." The Charity Commissioners
have said that it ought to be declared illegal
and the endowment taken for some useful
national purpose. Can it be alleged that we
are carrying out the founder's intentions when
we allow £6,000 a year to be competed for by
a crowd of so-called relations, not one of
whom is nearer than the seventh generation ?
Or similarly, an annual distribution in 209
different parishes of thousands of money
doles ? Or is it to be supposed that the rich
burgher of the sixteenth century who endeav-
oured to help his poor brethren would have
been charitably disposed to the freemen of the
twentieth century who now enjoy his bounty ?
The freemen on whom the benefactions were
originally conferred were the citizens of the
ancient boroughs. They possessed great
privileges, but they had also onerous and
expensive duties to discharge.
Without unduly labouring the case for
reform, we merely desire to say that when the
question of charitable endowments is being
considered, regard should be paid to the
schemes of great philanthropists, such as
those of the late Andrew Carnegie and J. D.
Rockefeller, men who have made endowments
running into tens of millions of pounds.
Fully alive to their responsibilities and calling
to their assistance the best advice procurable,
such elasticity has been given to the adminis-
trative provisions as to render the endowments
capable of application to almost every pressing
need. The first thing noticeable is that the
term " for ever," so common in old founda-
tions, is never employed in the new schemes.
They express their acceptance of the fact that
the conditions of the earth inevitably change,
and provide accordingly. Free from hampering
conditions, the foundations are adapted to the
changing needs of future generations, and if
this fundamental conception were made to
be the guiding consideration in all charitable
endowments, we would have little to fear
from present or future administration of
such Trusts.
(To he continued.)
GORMSPONDINCE
To the Editor.
" Safety First."
Sir, — During the summer of last year a
movement was set on foot in the Manchester
and Salford district to promote the use of
white walking sticks by blind pedestrians.
During the Autumn a " Safety First "
Committee was formed to advertise the idea,
and to consider further suggestions.
Speaking for myself, I was very reluctant
to label myself by using a white stick ; but
after more than three months' constant use,
I can honestly say that the extra security and
comfort on the road are well worth any small
sacrifice of pride involved.
Yours, etc.,
John Allcock,
Salford.
To the Editor.
Shall We Form a Braille Esperanto Group ?
Sir, — Lessons now appearing in Braille
journals are attracting to Esperanto the atten-
tion of many readers old and young, and they
will soon be asking : " What are we to do
with the language now that we have learnt it ?"
The answer must vary, of course, according
to the taste and circumstances of each
individual, but it must always be kept in
mind that Esperanto aims at being a key to
unlock the hearts of men with whom we
could not communicate without it. It is not
a thing to study in seclusion ; from the very
beginning we should use it to make friends
and generally to widen our outlook upon life.
Among seeing Esperantists, groups have
arisen'in a vast number of towns throughout
the world, the local group being usually
affiliated to a national society, and these
societies being linked together by the Inter-
national Central Committee and the Universal
Esperanto Association, of Geneva. Blind
Esperantists, too, have their national Esper-
anto societies in Czecho- Slovakia, Finland,
France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, etc.,
where they have done much to promote the
study and use of the language.
We, too, have our Universal Association of
Blind Esperantists, with its consuls in about
thirty countries.
In Great Britain we badly need a Society of
Braille Esperantists to unite our resources of
time and knowledge. Its work might include
PAGE
4'
BEACON
the introduction of new Esperantists to those
who have gained experience in its use, and to
seeing Esperantists or Esperanto groups in
their neighbourhood ; the provision of more
literature in Braille, both to increase the
collection in the National Library and to
furnish individual members with items needed
for teaching or for use in group meetings ;
helping members to obtain special information
from abroad, or to supply that which their
correspondents ask for, and to keep them in
close touch with the movement in all parts
of the world.
As a first step in the formation of such a
group, I should be glad if all who are interested
would write to me briefly in Braille, giving
their address and some indication either of
the help they could give in working it, or the
help they themselves might require.
Yours, etc.,
W. Percy Merrick.
Penso, Shepperton, Middlesex.
ON BEING BLIND.
By MARY PAGET.
Follozving is a " talk " broadcast by Miss Mary Paget on the zyd January,
and reprinted by courtesy of " The Radio Times."
NOT all of us can emulate the
wonderful exploits of Henry
F a w c e 1 1 , P o s t m a s t e r -
General half a century ago.
Blinded in early manhood,
like so many of our soldiers,
he at once determined to
give up none of the pursuits he had followed
before the accident which had blinded him.
So he went on skating, fishing, rowing, and
riding, in addition to all his Parliamentary
work and other mental activities. But for
everybody, and especially the blind, the daily
walk in all weathers is essential.
There is a yet more important form of
exercise which we cannot safely neglect —
mental exercise. I doubt if any people have
such opportunities for this happy exercise as
blind people. We have perforce to think out
every new place, every new voice, and the
touch of everything we come across. Now,
for this interesting daily exercise, total
blindness is better than mere bad sight. The
blind develop new senses, just as the plant
that has been cut back sprouts new buds.
Take, for instance, the sense of direction and
obstacle. The amazing power of carrier
pigeons to find their way home from almost
any distance is quite beyond us. But not so
unattainable are the achievements of a blind
friend of mine, who walks all about London
by himself. He says he can detect the presence
of a lamp post by a slight alteration in the
sound of the traffic.
A very subtle new sense is suggested by the
experience of Helen Keller, who was not only
blind but deaf. It may be called the sense of
PAGE
42
vibration. She could enjoy Niagara through
the quickened vibrations of the air in its
neighbourhood. She could also enjoy a fine
song by feeling the throat of the singer. She
even went so far as to feel the throats of lions
and other wild animals, to find out what
roaring was like. We, who are slowly feeling
our way through an atmosphere more
crowded with vibrations than the Strand is
with vehicles, must feel this sense to be one
worth cultivating.
There still remains one sense — the king of
all the senses — imagination. It has been
said that we English have first-rate hearts,
second-rate brains, and third-rate imagin-
ations. This cannot apply to the blind, for
one of our greatest advantages is our special
power of imagination and inward vision. I
will boldly say that no one understands the
real refreshment of the country as those who
cannot see it. Just as the whiteness of light is
composed of many lovely colours, so the
silence of darkness in the country is composed
of many lovely sounds. I never fully realized
this before I was blind. Now, with the
heightened sense of hearing that comes from
loss of sight, I can hardly imagine a greater
joy than that of listening to that wonderful
living silence.
Unfortunately, there are many people who
get very little opportunity of real fresh air.
But, just as there are two kinds of exercise,
physical and mental, so there are two kinds of
fresh air. Stuffy rooms are bad enough,
especially for invalids of any kind, but stuffy
minds are worse. I suppose blind people may
be specially tempted to that sort of stuffiness.
Do you remember the description in Ibsen's
BEACON
" Peer Gynt " of the poor neurasthenics whom
he went to visit ? " These poor people are, I
suppose, beside themselves ? " says Peer
Gynt. " Oh, no," says his guide ; " they are
not beside themselves— they are inside them-
selves." We must, of course, take great care
not to keep inside ourselves, and here is the
danger for us, of worry and depression. This
is where wireless comes to our rescue. It is
not for nothing that the daily service comes
just before the daily worry, or that, when we
begin to get inside ourselves, we can switch
on — well, anything.
Of course, too, there are innumerable
diversions to take blind people out of them-
selves. To all that Braille opens to us of
reading, writing, and music are now added
cards, chess, draughts, and even cross-word
and jig-saw puzzles. But, of course, the best
way of getting outside ourselves is to try and
help other people. Doing things for other
people is an investment in happiness. More-
over, it is, for blind people, only common
honesty — the repayment of the big debt they
owe to others, for everybody is kind to us.
One advantage of blindness still remains.
It may be more modest if we say opportunity
of advantage, yet it is certainly the greatest of
all. All people with disabilities, whether
blindness, deafness, lameness or what not,
learn very early that the way to realize their
opportunities begins only when they have
realized their limitations. While we struggle
against these, we are only losing time and
mental energy needed for better things. This
does not mean resignation so much as
co-operation, not giving in to, but working in
with, our disability.
THE BLIND IN THE IRISH FREE STATE.
T
HE Blind Persons Act was
passed prior to the Irish
Free State (Agreement) Act
of 1922, and has not been
superseded ; the legal
position of the blind in
Ireland, therefore, is similar
to that in England. But there has been up
to noyv no voluntary system of blind welfare
in the Free State, and consequently no
organisation at work to watch the interests of
the blind and to ensure the fullest advantage
being taken of the benefits implicit in the
Act.
Very briefly the position in Ireland may be
summed up as follows : —
1. Education. Education is compulsory for
all children in the Free State, and the blind
child is therefore in theory at least, included.
But unless school attendance is very rigidly
enforced, the fact that there are only two
schools in the Free State and that both are in
Dublin, makes it very doubtful whether
parents in remote country districts are always
prevailed upon to agree to the prolonged
separation from their blind children that
education in a distant Institution would entail.
2. Training. Industrial training is provided
under the schemes for the welfare of the
blind adopted by local authorities, but here
again facilities appear to be very limited, and
there is of course no question of compulsion
involved.
3. Employ mint. There are four workshops,
but as three of these are in Dublin one cannot
help questioning once more whether blind
persons in country districts find their way to
them. There is no Home Workers' Scheme.
4. Cave of Unemployable*. Grants at
varying rates are made to the necessitous and
unemployable blind by the local authorities,
but the maximum allowed in most counties
is lower than the Old xAge Pension. There is
no scheme for the Home Visiting and Home
Teaching of the blind.
For some time past the condition of the
blind in Ireland has been a matter of special
interest and concern to Miss Armitage, whose
father, Dr. Armitage, founder of the National
Institute for the Blind, spent much of his
life in Ireland and had many ties and interests
there. Miss Armitage has given much time
for several months to arousing interest in the
question, and on the 20th of January she
convened a small private meeting in Dublin
to consider the subject. The chair was taken
by Dr. T. G. Moorhead, and Mr. W. McG.
Eagar, Secretary- General of the National
Institute for the Blind, attended in an
advisory capacity.
Miss Armitage gave a short summary ol the
position of the blind in the Free State, and
emphasised the importance, if an improve-
ment in their condition is to be secured, of
adequate registration, the establishment of a
PAGE
43
BEACON
Home Visiting service, and the appointment
of a Committee to co-ordinate work for the
blind through the Free State, supplying
technical assistance when required, and
encouraging new developments. With regard
to Home Visiting she was able to report the
most mportant and hopeful fact that
the Society of St. Vincent de Paul is prepared
to give help in places where branches of the
Society exist, and has indeed already begun
by visiting the blind in the Dublin area.
It was decided at the meeting to set up a
provisional Committee to collect information,
to confer with the Institutions already at work,
and to explore the possibilities generally.
By means of the Blind Pension, grants to
workshops, and institutions, and assistance
for the unemployable blind, something has
been done to relieve the most pressing
material needs of the blind in Ireland ; it will
be the duty of the newly formed Committee
to set on foot a movement that will secure to
every blind person in the Free State means of
leading a fuller life, with greater opportunities
for mental and social development.
Northern Counties Institute for the Blind
Report for 1930.
The Committee are much pleased with the
satisfactory state of the finances of the
Institute. The general charity account shows
a credit balance of £323 and the turnover in
the Industrial department has increased by
£479 in the last year. In order to deepen
public interest in the work of the Institute,
5,000 copies of an illustrated booklet des-
cribing the work in various departments were
circulated in the district together with a
pamphlet by an eminent Eye Specialist on
" The Care of the Eyes."
Buckinghamshire Association for the Blind.
There has been a substantial increase in
subscriptions this year which is very satis-
factory. Great assistance has been lent to the
Association by the Bucks County Council this
year and the Association welcome the fact
that they will now be under the guidance of
this Council and their medical officer, Dr.
Holden, who is very interested in work for the
blind.
REVIEWS
REPORTS
Manchester and Salford Blind Aid Society.
The Report for 1929-30 is a record of many
friendly services to the blind, in addition to
the giving of relief in sickness and the
almonising of weekly grants to the necessi-
tous. There are now eighteen centres in
Manchester for the carrying on of pastime
occupations and for social gatherings, and
those who realise what lonely lives are often
led by the elderly blind in the poorest streets
of a great city can appreciate what the warmth
and friendliness and good comradeship of
such centres must mean to them, and how
valuable is the work done.
Walsall Society for the Blind.
The Society has started coal-bag making
as a new industry. An important exhibition
of blind work was recently held in the Town
Hall, kindly lent for the occasion, and
valuable help was rendered by Rotarians,
Guides, Scouts, and others.
PAGE
44
Royal Midland Institution for the Blind.
The 86th Annual Report shows that there
are 165 pupils and workers in the care of the
Institution, employed chiefly in basket-,
brush-, and mat-making, and in boot repair-
ing, while there are over 1,400 persons on the
Home Teaching and Visiting Register,
together with 80 Home Workers. The
Report is brief, and very largely made up of
statistical detail, but the photographs which
illustrate it helps to introduce a more informal
note ; the group of men listening-in in the
garden, the boys in the gymnasium, and the
Girl Guides with their trophy won at a
Smgine Festival, give a pleasant suggestion
of happy community life.
UNION OF COUNTIES ASSOCIATIONS FOR
THE BLIND.
British " Wireless for the Blind " Fund in the
Metropolitan and Adjacent Counties.
The distribution of crystal sets is mainly
complete. Volunteers are wanted all over the
area, especially in rural districts — experts who
will undertake installation and permanent
care, and friends who will undertake the cost
of maintenance (when it is not given free),
for individual blind neighbours. Many
BEACON
Local Societies have already gone to consider-
able expense in supplementing this Voluntary
help. The Essex County Association for the
Blind has just set aside a sum of £y$ to form
a fund for the purpose.
Essex County Association for the Blind.
The Essex County Association for the
Blind has arranged to make from its voluntary
funds a special grant of £1 for coal to every
blind person who is in receipt of a regular
allowance either from its own funds, from
Pension or other Charities which it almonises,
or from the County Council grant to the
necessitious unemployable blind.
Southampton Association for the Welfare of
the Blind.
A new Local Association has been formed
to serve the Southampton County Borough
Council — the Southampton Association for
the Welfare of the Blind, Hon. Secretary :
Miss Hilda M. L. Day ; General Secretary :
A. H. Hooley, Esq., Municipal Offices, High
Street, Southampton. (Telephone 2539.)
Midland Counties Conference.
A Conference of Local Authorities and
Members of Voluntary Agencies for the Blind
for the Midland Counties will be held on
March 19th, and 20th, 1931, at the Birming-
ham Royal Institution for the Blind,
Fdgbaston, Birmingham.
Papers will be read on the Subjects of
Registration and Statistics and of Services
for the Unemployable Blind.
All inquiries should be addressed to the
Hon. Secretary, Miss B. Urmson, 23,
Leckford Road, Oxford.
Dates of Forthcoming Meetings.
February 19th, 1931 : Northern Counties
Association, Sub- Committee on the Men-
tally Defective and Sub-Normal Blind.
February 26th, 193 1 : Northern Counties
Association, Executive Committee.
March 2nd to March 27th, 193 1 : Northern
Counties Association's Home Teachers
Training Course, Leeds Institution.
March 16 to 27th, 193 1 : Northern Counties
Association's Home Teachers' Refresher
Course, Leeds Institution.
April 22nd, 193 1 : Northern Counties Associ-
ation's Home Teachers Conference, Milton
Hall, Manchester.
RECENT
PUBLICATIONS
"Moon Made Easy."
A very useful publication has just been
issued by the Moon Society for the Blind.
" Moon Made Easy " will be invaluable to
those interested in teaching the Moon System.
It has been prepared by a very experienced
teacher, Miss Hilda Bradfield, the winner of
numerous prizes, under the approval of the
College of Teachers of the Blind, and will
meet a long felt want among teachers of a set
of graduated lessons for use in home teaching.
The publication consists of an inkprint leaflet
of Suggestions to Teachers, a folded Alphabet
Card with contractions, numerals, etc., a small
Finger Exercise Card, a set of ten separate
sheets of Graduated Exercises, and a Wide
Line Reader. The set is contained in a stout
envelope, measuring 12x9, and is issued at
the specially reduced price of one shilling per
copy. For convenience of replacement each
of the contents has been separately priced,
and any quantities of individual sheets or
cards will be supplied on request.
OBITUARY
John Young, on November 25th, 1930, in
his 89th year. For many years (1877-1915),
Mr. Young was Director of the Tunkig
Department and Technical Master of the
Royal Normal College, Upper Norwood, and
past students will remember his devotion to
their service, and his great interest in the
Education of the Blind — an interest fully
maintained to the time of his death. He
followed closely the details of all new educa-
tional movements, and never lost the enthusi-
asm for the cause with which he had for so
long been associated.
George Buchanan, on January 24th, in
his 82nd year. He was the first superin-
tendent of the Oldham Industries for the
Blind Workshop and was selected as super-
intendent of the new workshops. He had
made arrangements to retire in March. He
has been described as one of the dearest
and most valued friends of the blind of
Oldham.
PAG£
45.
BEACON
ACHIEVEMENTS
OF THE BLIND
Abercynon Blind Musician.
Mr. John Hughes, the blind son of Mr. and
Mrs. Jam^s Hughes, Abercynon, has obtained
a licentiateship diploma of the Royal Academy
of Music. He was a pupil at the Swansea
Blind Institute, and was taught by Miss
Nellie Owen, L.R.A.M., who is also blind.
Three Musical Successes.
Three students of the music department of
Henshaw's Institution for the Blind have
succeeded in passing with honours the
Trinity College (London) Local Examination
(senior division).
They are : Gladys Clowes Powell, Horace
Raymond Driver, and Edward Alan Hayton.
Successes of Royal Normal College Pupils.
The following results are announced :—
Oxford and Cambridge Joint Board School
Certificate Examination : Margaret Brand,
Joan Hewlett, Lilian Smith ; all gained
Credit in all subjects.
Associated Board, Local Centre Examin-
ations : Singing (Advanced) : Winifred
Ambler, Ruth Jones (Hon. Mention),
Beatrice Silk (Hon. Mention).
Piano (Advanced) : Rebecca Haber, Lilian
Ripley (Hon. Mention), Violet Wallace.
"School" Examination, Higher Division:
Piano Frederick House (Distinction), Ruth
Jones, Doris Rabjohns (Hon. Mention).
Shorthand and Typewriting Successes.
Ida Beighton, a student of the Royal Normal
College for the Blind, Upper Norwood, who
sat for the London Chamber of Commerce
Senior Typewriting Examination in November
last, has passed this examination with dis-
tinction, and has also been awarded the
Chamber's Second Prize in this subject.
News has just been received that three
more successes with distinction in each case,
have been gained in this body's Shorthand
Examination by blind girls — all trained at the
Royal Normal College : Agnes Swift at 130
words per minute, Ida Beighton at 120 words
per minute, and Hilda Fowler at no words
per minute.
PAGE
46
Blind Typist Aged 81.
Miss Wakefield, aged 81, an inmate of the
Belfast Home for the Blind, has learned the
typewriter. She now types letters for many
of her friends at that institution.
A Musical Commercial Traveller.
Mr. Tommy Foster, the blind Cumberland
organist, has just celebrated 21 years as
organist at Causewayhead Church, Silloth.
He is a good tenor vocalist, and in addition
to his duties as organist he assists the choir.
He knows the hymns by the numbers, the
respective psalms set for the days of the
month, and he carries out his task by memory.
He is a traveller in tea, perfumes, soaps, and
stationery, and over an area of 15 miles he
knows every lane, road, house and gate.
Blind Ex-M.P. Passes Bar Final.
Capt. Ian Fraser, the former M.P. for St.
Pancras, who was blinded in the war, has
passed the final examinations qualifying him
to be called as a barrister. He has been a
student of the Inner Temple.
Capt. Fraser, who is chairman of St.
Dunstan's, sat for St. Pancras North as a
Conservative from 1924 to 1929, and is a
former member of the London County
Council. In reading for the examinations, he
used Braille for notes occasionally, but the
bulk of the work was read to him by his
secretary. He proposes to stand for Parlia-
ment at the next election, but he has not yet
decided whether he will practice in any
branch of the law.
Blind Athletes.
Eighteen war-blinded men of St. Dunstan's
took part in the annual nine miles road walk,
held last month, over three laps of the outer
Circle in Regent's Park.
In the totally-blinded section the winner
of the scratch race was P. Holmes (Bedfords)
who covered the distance in 1 hr. 29 min.
n sec, thus making a big improvement on
his last performance two years ago, when he
finished seventh.
A. Brown (Cheshires) again won the scratch
medal in the semi-sighted section, thus adding
to his remarkable sequence of successes in the
series of races held each year in Regent's
Park — he has finished first in every race in
which he has taken part during the past five
years .
BEACON
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND.
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MUSIC.
The prices of the following pieces of music are subject
to a reduction of three-quarters for the blind resident
in the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
The minimum price is 6d. per copy.
CHURCH d
I ojoice, O Judah, Bass Air,
Judas Maccabaeus." D A,
10.50
Hallelujah, Amen, Chorus,
Judas Maccabaeus," V.S. ...
Handel
from
— E1
10.561 Handel
from
ORGAN—
10.562 Lyon, J. Sonata No. 1, in C minor ...
10.563 Mansfield, P. J. Concert Overture in F
10.564 Rowley, Alec. Andante Religioso
10.565 Sowerbutts, J. A. Caprice in D. flat ...
PIANO—
10.566 Bsethoven. Two Bagatelles (1,797) ...
Debussy. Hommage a Rameau
Isaacs, Edward. Two Caprice-Etudes
(" Romanza " and " Hunting Song")
Jenkins, Cyril. O, what a Chatterbox '
(Rondino)
10,570 Moffat, Alfred (arr. by). Old English
Harpsichord Dances, Book 2
Rayners, Cecil. Goblin Shadows (Danse
Novelette)
Widor. Marche Ecossaise
10,567
10,568
10,569
10,571
10,572
DANCE
10,573
2 0
Donaldson, W. Little White Lies,
Song Fox-Trot ... ... ... 2 0
10.574 Gay, N. and Graham, H. The King's
Horses, Song Fox-Trot ... ... 2 0
10.575 Nicholls, H. Say a Little Prayer for Me,
Song Fox-Trot ... ... ... 2 0
10.576 Young, A. He's my Secret Passion
(from " Children of Chance "), Song
Fox-Trot 2 0
SONGS—
10.577 Brown, Hubert. Hymn on the Nativity
G minor ; C — F1 ... ... ... 2 0
10.578 Duncan-Rubbra, E. Rune of Hospit-
ality, G minor ; E — D1 ... ... 2 0
10.579 Dyson, George. A Poet's Hymn
(Unison Song) ... ... ... 2 0
10.580 Green hill, Harold. A Song of Weathers,
E fiat; D— F* 2 0
10.581 Handel. Weep no more, from " Her-
cules," E flat ; E— F1 2 0
10.582 Harrison, Julius. Marching Along,
D minor ; C sharp — F1 ... ... 2 0
10.583 Trew, Arthur. Guides' Song of Service,
E fiat ; E— F1 2 0
10.584 Watts, Wintter. The Little Shepherd's
Song, C ; G — B1 flat 2 0
10.585 White, M. V. To Mary, A flat ; E— F1 2 0
10.586 Williams, Vaughan. Hugh's Song of the
Road, from " Hugh, the Drover,"
F minor : E flat — A1 natural ... 2 ft
DUET—
10.587 Parker, K. (arr. by). The Old Folks
at Home (Soprano and Tenon ... 2 0
BRAILLE BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire
Per vol.
9,513-9,519 Garden of Allah, The, by Robert s. d
Hie hens. Grade 2, Large size,
InterDointed, Paper Covers. 7 vols.
F.446 6 3
9,501-9,503 Lane that Had No Turning, The,
by Sir Gilbert Parker. Grade 2,
Large size, Interpointed , Paper
Covers. 3 vols. F.199 6 6
9,504-9,506 Return, The, by Walter de la Mare.
Grade 2. Large si/e, Interpointed.
Paper Covers. 3 vols. F.185 ... 6 3
MOON BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire
Per vol.
3,022-3,026 The Hundred Day. by Max s. d.
Pemberton. ii vols. iLimited Edition) 12 0
3.043 3rd Series of 24 Hymns in Loose sheets.
Per Hymn Id. 2/3rds Discount is
allowed on 1 dozen or more.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE STUDENTS' LIBRARY.
ADDITIONS.
SIOGRAPHY. Vols
George Herbert, by Izaak Walton
Kaiser Wilhelm II, by E. Ludvvig
CLASSICS.
Cook, A. M. and Marchant, E. C. Latin passages
for Unseen Translation
ECONOMICS.
Lavington, T. English Capital Market
EDUCATION.
Findlay, J. J. The School :
HISTORY.
Massingham, H. W. Pre-Roman Britain
LAW.
Griffith, D. M. Constitution Law and Legal
History ... ... ... ... ... ... '.
MODERN LANGUAGES.
Anthologie, Poetes d'Aujourd'hui ... ... !
Bashkirtseff, Marie ■ Journal de
Moliere, Ecole des Mari", ...
PHILOSOPHY.
Eucken, R. Main Currents of Modern Thought
POETRY AND DRAMA.
Farquahar, G. The Beaux Stratagem .. . ... S
Maugham, Somerset. The Breadwinner
THEOLOGY AND RELIGIONS.
Arnold, Sir T. The Islamic Faith
Kent, C. Foster. History of the Jewish People.
During Babylonian , Persian and Greek Periods '.
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND.
ADDITIONS-JANUARY, 1931.
FICTION. Vols.
Attenborough, G. M. The Rich Young Man ...
Birmingham, G. A. The Major's Candlesticks ...
Brostcr, D. K. and E. W. Taylor. Chantemerle
Dinuis, Enid. Shepherd of Weepingwold
Eden, Hon. Emily. The Semi attached couple
Fevel, P. and M. Lasse;-. Martyr to the Queen ;
Adventures of D'Artagnan and Cyrano de
Bergerac ...
" Gentleman with a Duster.' The Great World
Gibbs, Sir P. The Hidden City
Hichens, R. On the Screen
Keverne, R. The Havering Plot
Kipling, Rudyard (Editor). Thy Servant a Dog
(Told by Boots)
Lucas, St. John. Heroines and Others
Luck, Peter. The Transome Murder Mystery...
Morley, F. V. East South East
Mottram, R. H. The English Miss
Page, Gertrude. Two Lovers and a Lighthouse
PAGE
47
BhACON
Rohmer, Sax. Yellow Shadows ... ... 3
Sabatini, R. The Romantic Prince ... ... 6
Thomas, Basil. Carfax Abbey ... ... ... 3
Van Dine, S. S. Greene Murder Case ... ... 5
Wilder, Thornton. Woman of Andros ... ... I
MISCELLANEOUS.
Affirmation Series :
Kennedy, G. A. Studdert. Environment ... 1
MacKenna, R. W. Problem of Pain... ... 1
Milne, A. A. Ascent of Man ... ... ... 1
Woolley, G. H. Fear and Religion ... ... 1
Barton, Bruce. The Book nobody knows ... 3
Clayton, P. B. Plain Tales from Flanders ... 2
Creston, Dormer. Andromeda in Wimpole
Street. (Romance of Elizabeth Barrett
Browning) ... ... ... ... ... A
Harrison, Ada. Christina of Sweden. (Repre-
sentative Women Series) ... ... ... i
Herbertson, A. J. and O. J. R. Howarth (Editors)
Oxford Survey of the British Empire. Vol. VI .
(E. W. Austin Memorial) 7
Shillito, E. Lamplighters of Old I
Wright, W. P. and E. j. Castle First Steps in
Gardening ... ... ... ... ... 3
Willoughby, Barrett. Gentlemen Unafraid ... 3
JUVENILE.
Brazil Angela. Loyal to the School ... ... 4
Bra?.il, Angela. Princess of the School ... 3
Strang, H. and R. Stead. Lion-heart ... ... 2
FOREIGN.
Maeterlinck, M. !.a vie des abeilles ... ... 7
MOON.
Barclay, Florence. Broker. Halo ... ... 7
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND,
NORTHERN BRANCH.
The Annual Braille Reading Competition of the
Northern Branch of the National Library for the Blind.
5, St. John Street, Manchester, will be held on Saturday.
14th March, 1031.
The Competitors will be divided into the following
classes and candidates will be asked to read unprepared
passages : —
Class 1. Adults (used to reading aloud).
Class 2. Adults (not used to reading aloud).
Class 3. Juniors, from 16 to 21 years of age.
Class 4. Juniors, under 16 years of age.
Two prizes will be awarded in each class.
Intending competitors wishing to take part must
send in their names, stating in which class they wish
to enter, to the Secretary, National Library for the
Blind, 5, St. John Street, Manchester, before" Tuesday,
3rd March, 1931.
COLLEGE OF TEACHERS OF THE BLIND.
The next examination for the School Teachers'
Certificate v/ill be held on 19th and 20th May, 1931, at
the School for the Blind, Swiss Cottage, London, N.W.3,
and for the Home Teachers' Certificate on 5th, 6th and
7th May, 1931, at the School for the Blind, Swiss
Cottage, London, N.W.3, and at the School for the
Blind, Wavertree, Liverpool. Forms of application
can be obtained from the Honorary Registrar, 224-6-8,
Great Portland Street, London, W.l, and must be
returned not later than 18th April in the case of the
former and 23rd March in the case of the latter.
The Competition for the E. D. Macgregor Prize will
be held on the 7th May, 1931, at the School for the
Blind, Swiss Cottage, London, N.W.3, and the School
for the Blind, Wavertree, Liverpool. Application
should be made to the Hon. Registrar, 224-6-8, Great
Portland Street, London. W.L not later than 23rd
March, 1931.
CANDIDATES loi the 'Julv Examinations for
ASSOCIATESHIP OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF
ORGANISTS will note that the subject set for the
Essay in the paper work test will be John Masefield's
" William Shakespeare." This is published by the
N.I.B. in two volumes (6,687-6,688), 6/- per volume,
less the usual two-thirds discount.
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THE BLIND, MARCH, 1931.
The next Examination for Gardner's Trust Scholar-
ships of the annual value of £40, tenable at the Royal
Normal College for the Blind, Upper Norwood, S.E.19,
will be held on Saturday, 7th March, and Monday,
9th March. Candidates must have reached the age of
sixteen on or before the date of the Examination, must
have resided in England or Wales for the last five years
and be intending to remain so resident. Application
should be made to the Principal on or before Saturday,
21st February, and the forms, properly filled in and
completed, returned to the College on or before
Saturday. 28th February, or the Candidate's name will
not be placed on the list.
ADVERTISEMENTS
FOR SALE. Harrison Circular KNITTING MACHINE
" Sunette," fine cylinder, with pressing boards and
winder, perfect condition. Any reasonable offer
accepted. 40, Irving Place, Blackburn, Lanes.
WANTED : SIGHTED LADY HOME TEACHER.
Salary £156 per annum, if certificated and experienced
£130 if uncertificated. Apply stating age and qualifi-
cations, enclosing copies of three recent testimonials,
not later than February 28th, to : The Secretary,
Northamptonshire (Town and County) Association for
the Blind, Gray Street, Northampton.
THE NORWICH INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND.
WOMENS DEPARTMENT :— Vacancy for WORK-
ROOM MISTRESS— successful Applicant will be
required to take full charge of Trainees and Journey-
women engaged in Round and Flat Machine Knitting-
Chair Caning — Light Basket Making — Weaving, etc
Applications stating age, experience and qualifications
with copies of two recent testimonials should be
addressed to the Secretary, The Norwich Institution
for the Blind, Magdalen Street, Norwich, immediately
COUNTY BOROUGH OF BIRKENHEAD
BLIND PERSONS ACT, 1920-
APPOINTMENT OF FEMALE HOME TEACHER.
Applications are invited for the post of Female Home
Teacher under the Council's Scheme for the Welfare of
the Blind. Applicants must possess the Home Teachers'
Certificate of the College of Teachers of the Blind The
Salary is £3 per week.
The post is a designated one and the candidate ap-
pointed will be required to pass a medical examination
and to contribute 5 per cent, of her salary to the
Corporation's Superannuation Fund according to the
provisions of the Local Government and other Officers
Superannuation Act, 1922.
Applications must be made on a form to be obtained
from the Medical Officer of Health, 9, Hamilton Square.
Birkenhead, and must be returned to the undersigned ,
accompanied by two recent testimonials, by not later
than Monday, 2nd March, 1931.
E. W Tame,
Town Hall, Birkenhead Town Clerk-
February, 1931
Smiths' Print
Company (Londo
E.C.4.
SPECIAL AMERICAN ISSUE.
L
BEACON
A MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF THE BLIND
Vol. XV.— No. 171. MARCH 15th, 1931. Price 3d.
3S. PER ANNUM, POST FRIF
EnUted as Second Class Mattel, March 15, 1929, at the Post Office at Boston, Mass., undo the Act oj March 3, 1879 [Sec. 397, P.L. and R..)
THE BLIND IN THE UNITED STATES
OF AMERICA.
By ROBERT B. IRWIN, Executive Director, American Foundation for the Blind.
{Reprinted from " Social Work Year Book" 1930.)
^^■""^■"'""""'■•HER.E are many points of view from which blindness may be defined. To the
physician it is a condition the absence of sight ; to the social worker or the
educator it is a cause — a restriction which keeps one from full participation
in the educational, employment, and recreational facilities of the community.
Roughly speaking, a child with less than one-tenth vision, or with an
eye condition which makes school work unsafe if conducted in the ordinary
way, is educationally blind. There is, however, a large additional group of
children, with vision ranging from one-tenth to one-third, for whom special sight-saving classes
must be organized if they are to receive fair treatment at the hands of the school authorities.
The adult with less than one-tenth vision is so limited in his choice of occupations as to be
considered vocationally blind. There are, though, many persons possessing more than one-
tenth vision who are so handicapped vocationally that they require the assistance of agencies
for the blind. The ratio of the blind to the general population in this country is usually estimated
at about one to one thousand. The incidence of blindness varies little geographically except
in districts like eastern Kentucky, southern Illinois, and southern Missouri, where the prevalence
of trachoma raises the ratio to a marked degree. A recent calculation based on estimates from
agencies for the blind indicates that in 1929 there were about 1 14,000 blind people in the country.
This total is much higher than that shown by the census, first because the Census Bureau's
definition of blindness is quite restricted ; and second, because many blind people are over-
looked. According to the census of 1920 the age distribution of blind people was as follows :
Age Group. Per Cent.
Under 5 years (Pre-school) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.7
5 to 19 years (School) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11.9
20 to 34 years (Employable but probably in need of vocational training and adjustment) 1 1 .5
35 to 49 years (Employable) .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 15.6
50 to 64 years (Possibly employable, but opportunities limited by age) . . . . 20.8
65 years and over (Probably unemployable) . . . . . . . . . . . . 39.5
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The group between 5 and 19 years was
probably more completely reported than any
other, since children in the residential schools
for the blind would be easily located by the
enumerators. Similarly, the group under
5 years is probably the most incompletely
reported, owing to the difficulty of locating
young blind children and of determining
whether they are blind or not. The large
proportion of blind past 50 years of age —
over 60 per cent — is to be noted ; many of
these would be too handicapped by age and
sickness to be self-supporting even if they
could see. It is important that the public
should distinguish between these and the
young capable blind who ask only for oppor-
tunity. Age at losing sight is also an im-
portant consideration in the rehabilitation of
the blind, and it is interesting to note that
the census of 1920 showed that 65 per cent,
of blind people lost their sight after school
age had been passed.
History and Present Status. There are in the
United States 54 residential schools and 21
city day schools for the blind. The three
oldest schools in the country — the New York
Institute for the Education of the Blind, the
Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction
of the Blind, and Perkins Institution and
Massachusetts School for the Blind — were
organized at about the same time, 1832.
These institutions are under private manage-
ment, but they have received State grants
almost from the start and the States now
furnish a large share of their support. The
first State school for the blind was established
by Ohio in 1837. To-day every State either
conducts a residential school of its own or has
a working arrangement by which it pays the
cost of educating its blind children in a similar
school in a neighbouring State. Approxi-
mately 5,500 pupils were enrolled during
1929 in the 54 residential schools for the
blind, private and public. The first day
school for the blind was organized by the
City of Chicago in 1900. Since that time 20
cities have followed Chicago's lead, these
schools enrolling in 1929 about 440 pupils.
Special institutions of higher learning for the
blind have never found much favour in the
United States, but many blind men and
women attend the regular colleges and
universities. Through the efforts of Dr.
Newel Perry, now a teacher in the California
School for the Blind, New York State in 1907
PAGE
5°
established scholarships of S300 a year to
employ " readers " for blind students attend-
ing institutions of higher learning in that
State. At present 21 States have similar
scholarships, varying from S 1 00 to an indefinite
amount and limited only by the appropriation
and the requirement of the student.
Schools for blind children had not been
long in operation before it became evident
that the academic and vocational training
afforded children in such schools did not
solve the employment problem of the blind.
Accordingly several employment institutions
with boarding facilities were opened, some
operated by the State and others receiving
more or less State support. But as the
activities of these employment institutions
were quite restricted, State commissions or
departments came to be organized to care for
the general needs of the blind, especially
adults. Twenty-six States now have such
agencies, with varying scopes of service.
Among the activities conducted by most
State commissions is home teaching. This
work is carried on usually by blind persons
who call at the homes of blind adults who
have never attended schools for the blind.
Instruction is given in finger reading and in
simple manual occupations, and the blind
person is helped in other ways to adjust
himself to his situation.
Blindness is so definite a cause of poverty
that special provision of public relief for the
needy blind has long been demanded. In
1903 Illinois inaugurated special county
relief for the blind. This was popularly
known as a " pension." At the end of 1929
there were 21 States having such special relief
laws for the blind, and efforts were being made
by organizations of blind people to write
similar laws on the statute books of other
States. In several large cities private associ-
ations for the blind have been organized to
carry on such activities as home teaching,
placement work, sheltered workshops, recre-
ation projects, and eye clinics. As a rule these
associations offer little material relief, pre-
ferring to leave that function to family
welfare agencies.
Owing to the limited market for books for
the blind their publication has never been
commercially possible. Finger readers have
therefore had to depend either upon philan-
thropy or upon public funds for their reading
matter. School books for the past half
BEACON
century have been largely supplied by the
federal government, operating through the
American Printing House for the Blind, in
Louisville. Because of the great cost and
bulk of books in raised type, few blind people
own them, and not many communities feel
justified in establishing libraries for the
blind. A few public libraries which have
such collections very generously lend their
books over a far larger territory than they
ordinarily serve, sometimes over several
States. To facilitate circulation the post-
office transmits such literature through the
mails free of charge. In 1907 Mrs. Matilda
Ziegler, of New York City, established the
Matilda Ziegler Magazine for the Blind, a
monthly periodical which is sent free to any
sightless person in the United States or
Canada. A number of other secular and
religious magazines have been started since.
The Lions International has adopted work
for the blind as one of its major activities.
It publishes a magazine in Braille for blind
children and has helped to inaugurate work
for the adult blind in several States.
Workers for the blind find that perhaps
their chief task is finding remunerative em-
ployment for their clients. The employment
field is narrowed not only by the limitations
imposed by blindness, but also by the lack of
confidence on the part of the seeing public in
the productive powers of the blind. Employed
blind people may be divided into four
classes : first, those who have set up for
themselves in business or in professions ;
second, those who are employed side by side
with the seeing in factories and commercial
establishments ; third, those employed in
sheltered workshops ; and fourth, those
working in their own homes under the super-
vision of a central agency for the blind. To
the blind man with some business acumen, a
commercial enterprise usually affords the
best opportunity for success. These enter-
prises represent almost every line of business,
from the management of a peanut stand to
the presidency of a bank. Wherever sales-
manship, personality, or executive ability are
of first importance, there are to be found
blind men in positions of trust. Most blind
people, however, like their seeing brothers,
must be wage-earners, leaving management
to those with special abilities.
Until the beginning of the present century
the blind man who had found work as an
Robert B. Irwin.
ordinary factory hand was rare indeed.
About 25 years ago, however, Charles F. F.
Campbell, an enthusiastic young worker for
the blind in Massachusetts, became convinced
that there were more jobs in industry which
blind people could fill than there were blind
people to fill them. He demonstrated his
contention to a limited extent, but the
employment of blind people in industry did
not become widespread until the years of the
World War. Most of the blind who obtained
positions at that time lost them during the
industrial recession about 1921. Owing to
the rapid development of labour-saving
machinery, to the restricting effect of insur-
ance regulations, and to the increasing
difficulty for various reasons of inducing
industry to assume responsibility for the
employment of the handicapped, the number
of blind people now working in factories
constitutes but a small proportion of those so
engaged at the close of the war.
In most large cities may be found one or
two small sheltered workshops employing a
dozen or more men. These shops usually
operate at a loss, and the deficit is made up
through either private philanthropy or taxa-
tion. The commonest activities carried on are
chair caning and the manufacture of brooms,
mops, rugs, and reed ware. Because blindness
handicaps individual workers to a varying
degree, wages are usually paid by piece rate.
PAGE
51
BEACON
Many State commissions and city associa-
tions arrange to sell the products made by
the blind in their homes. In some cases the
organization supplies the material and pays
for the labour upon delivery of the completed
work. In other instances the workers
furnish their own material and the organiza-
tion sells the articles, returning the amount of
the purchase price to the blind workers.
There is usually no charge for selling service.
Articles so manufactured include dish towels,
aprons, rugs, baskets, crocheted and knitted
wear, and stuffed toys.
Developments and Events, 1929. The out-
standing events of the year, aside from
legislative changes, were of an international
character. Preliminary steps were taken to
call a World Conference of Specialists in
Work for the Blind, to be held in New York
City in 193 1. As the result of a conference
held in Paris in April, 1929, France, Germany,
Great Britain, Italy, and the United States
adopted a common code for the publishing of
Braille music, so that music embossed in any
of these countries will henceforth be usable
by the blind in other countries. During the
year the American Foundation for the Blind
made a study of stand concessions operated
by the blind and a survey of library work for
them in the United States, and had in
preparation a manual for home teachers.
Surveys were also conducted by the Sub-
committee on the Visually Handicapped of
the White House Conference on Child Health
and Protection.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
ORGANISING COMMITTEE.
Hon. Chairman— M. C. Migel (New York).
Formerly Chairman, New York State
Commission for Blind.
President, American Foundation for the
Blind.
Chairman — Robert B. Irwin (New York).
Executive Director, American Foundation
for the Blind since 1929, and previously
Director of its Bureau of Research and
Education.
President, American Association of Workers
for the Blind (1923-27).
President, The Howe Publishing Society
for the Blind in Cleveland (1911-1928).
President, The Clear Type Publishing
Committee.
Dr. Edward E. Allen (Mass.).
Director, Perkins Institution and Massach-
usetts School for the Blind.
For many years Commissioner of the
Blind in Massachusetts.
Dr. Olin H. Burritt (Pa.).
Principal, Pennsylvania Institution for the
Instruction of the Blind.
Mrs. Mary Dranga Campbell (Missouri).
First Executive Director, Council of the
Blind, Pennsylvania.
For eight years Assistant Editor, Outlook
for the Blind.
Now Executive Director, The Missouri
Commission for the Blind.
B. P. Chappie (N. Dakota).
Superintendent, State School for the Blind,
N. Dakota.
Wm. Nelson Cromwell (New York).
President, American Braille Press.
Dr. John H. Finley (New York).
President, New York Association for the
Blind.
Calvin S. Glover (Ohio).
Secretary, Cincinnati Association for the
Welfare of the Blind.
Miss Lucille Goldthwaite (New York).
Librarian, New York Public Library for
the Blind.
William A. Hadley (Illinois).
Principal, Hadley Correspondence School
for the Blind (founded 1921).
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Miss Mary V. Hun (New York).
Vice-Chairman, New York State Commis-
sion for the Blind.
Trustee, American Foundation for the
Blind.
B. S. Joice (Pa.).
Superintendent, Western Pennsylvania
School for the Blind.
H. R. Latimer (Pa.).
Executive Secretary, Pennsylvania Associ-
ation for the Blind, Pittsburg.
Thos. S. McAloney (Colorado).
Superintendent, Colorado School for the
Deaf and Blind.
Stetson K. Ryan (Conn.).
Secretary, State of Connecticut Board of
Education of the Blind (1928).
Edward M. Van Cleve (New York).
Principal, New York Institute for the
Education of the Blind since 1914.
Managing Director, The National Com-
mittee for the Prevention of Blindness from
i9IS-i9*3-
Previously Superintendent, Ohio State
School for the Blind.
British Guests to International Conference.
Several ladies and gentlemen actively
engaged in welfare work for the blind in this
country expressed a desire to attend the
International Conference at New York next
month, and the following are attending as
guests : —
The Rev. E. H. Griffiths, R.N., Royal
School for the Blind, Leatherhead ; Miss
Hamar Greenwood and guide ; Dr. Ernest
Whitfield ; Mr. W. R. Halliday, Mission to
the Outdoor Blind ; Dr. G. F. McLeary, of
the Ministry of Health (who will be in
America at the time of the Conference) ; Mr.
G. C. Brown, Worcester College for the
Blind; Mr. S. F. Markham, M.P., Museums
Association ; Mrs. Starling (wife of the
British delegate) ; and Mrs. Danby (wife
of the British delegate).
The names of the British and European
delegates to the International Conference were
given on page 257 of the December issue of
The New Beacon, and the names of the
representatives of the British Government
were given on pages 5 and 29 of the January
and February issues.
Edivard M. Van Clcve.
Log of Lighthouse No. 1.
We have just received the 24th Report of
the New York Association for the Blind for
1930 (" Log of Lighthouse " No. 1). Its
compilers are once again to be congratulated
on the photographs that illustrate it (perhaps
a clearer atmosphere than ours helps to make
them specially attractive) which are beauti-
fully grouped, simple in background and
always convincing in " telling a tale."
Specially successful examples are " The
Lighthouse Players " standing out clear-cut
against the skilfully draped curtains of their
stage, or the pictures of small children
handling educational toys with that breathless
intentness characteristic of them, or again of
the girl-bathers splashing happily in the
Lighthouse pool. The letterpress deals with
a very wide field of activity, including
industrial training and employment, preven-
tion of blindness, placement, recreation,
home visiting, and the provision of holidays,
but it is impossible in a brief note to do
justice to any of these varied activities ;
perhaps the best comment that can be made
upon them is that given in a letter from
one of the blind helped by the Lighthouse
— " I observe you are one of those who
keep your promises and a little better than
that."
PAGE
53
BEACON
BLIND RELIEF LAWS IN AMERICA.
DELEGATES to the New
York Conference who want
to gain a comprehensive
view of blind relief in the
United States cannot do
better than study the
monograph of the Ameri-
can Foundation, entitled" Blind Relief Laws,"
and prepared by Mr. Irwin and Miss McKay.
Accepting the thesis that " blindness is in
itself a sufficiently well defined cause of
poverty to require special treatment at the
hands of the State " the writers set out to
answer the following questions : —
i. Who shall pay the relief ? Shall it be
derived from central or from local
sources ?
2. Who shall receive it ? How shall
blindness be defined, what constitutes
" need," what residential qualifications
should be laid down, and what shall
disqualify ?
3. What shall be its amount ?
4. How shall the relief be administered ?
How often ought cases to be reviewed,
and how far can relief money be used
constructively ?
The questions have a familiar ring to
anyone who has had to do with the adminis-
tration of relief to the unemployable blind in
this country, and the conclusions reached by
the writers are in agreement with the experi-
ence of workers here ; but the case is put so
clearly and well that it is perhaps worth
while to give a brief summary of the principles
laid down.
1 . Who shall pay the relief ? The writers
deal at considerable length with the source of
relief — should it come from the State, or from
the counties which together make up the
State and are generally the tax-collecting
units, or should the expense be divided
between county and State ?
The Government, whether of State or
county, in America differs so much from our
own that a detailed discussion of this part of
the monograph would not greatly concern
the English reader, but the conclusions
reached by the writers may be briefly noted: —
(a) That the duty of making the appropri-
ation of a fund for blind relief should
rest on the local authorities in view of
PAGE
54
their personal knowledge of the local
blind.
(b) That the collection of information and
the preparation of recommendations
should be entrusted to whatever agency
in the State is most closely in touch
with the blind and their needs.
(c) That the local authority should have
the power to make the final awards on
the basis of information collected by
the State agency referred to under (b).
2. Who shall receive the relief ?
It should perhaps be stated at the outset
that the Blind Relief Laws are not invariably
restricted to those whom we call in England
" the unemployable blind," and may in fact
(as in Colorado) take the form of a grant for
vocational training, though as a rule the
grants are for those who on account of blind-
ness cannot be self-supporting.
The question " Who shall receive the
relief ? " is generally answered under three
headings : —
(a) He must be blind.
(b) He must be needy.
(c) He must fulfil certain residential quali-
fications.
The definitions of blindness adopted in the
various States vary considerably, from the
uncompromising " loss of both eyes " of
Kansas, to the " inability by reason of loss of
eyesight to provide oneself with the neces-
saries of life " of Ohio. Certification varies
in the States as it does here, some relief
authorities requiring " a competent oculist,"
but others accepting the certificate of a
general practitioner. The comment that
" in some communities it is commonly known
that for a given fee certain physicians will
testify to the blindness of anyone who can
make out a plausible case based on some
defect of vision " is a serious indictment, and
one hopes that it is only occasionally deserved.
The writers go on to discuss the meaning
of the word " need " and the varying defin-
itions which may be adopted. Certain
States have defined the needy blind man as
one having an income of less than a given
amount each year, but this is open to many
objections in that it takes no account of rise
or fall in the cost of living, the family obliga-
tions which the blind individual may have to
BEACON
meet, or those variations of standard of life
which cannot in practice be ignored. Most
of the blind relief laws take into account the
obligations of relatives ; parents, brothers
and sisters, husbands and wives are generally
regarded as having a certain responsibility for
their blind kinsfolk. A sample case-form is
given in the appendix to the monograph
which suggests that fairly stringent inquiries
are made in certain States in this respect —
" Have any of your children property of any
kind in their own names — where and how
much ? " or " Have any of your children any
money in Banks — and what amount ? " are
two questions over which one suspects the
investigators may sometimes have difficulty.
There is naturally a temptation for blind
persons to move into States where conditions
for them are specially favourable, and such a
tendency is frequently guarded against in the
Blind Relief laws, where it is laid down that a
certain period of residence must be fulfilled
before help can be given ; such a condition
sometimes inflicts hardship, but the more
recently enacted laws have benefited by the
experience of other States where Blind Relief
is of older standing, and have so worded
their regulations as to lessen the hardship
without loss of the safeguard.
The attitude of the Blind Relief laws to the
blind mendicant is generally similar to our
own, though some counties appear to be
rather lax ; but the comment that " repre-
sentative blind people all over the country
have urged that mendicants be excluded from
the benefits of the Blind Relief laws " is
significant. It is interesting in this connection
to read that in New Jersey " publicly soliciting
alms shall be construed to mean the wearing,
carrying, or exhibiting of signs denoting
blindness," which is surely a rather stringent
definition. In New Jersey too " no person
shall be eligible to the relief granted by the
Blind Relief Act who is suffering from mental
or physical infirmity which in itself would
make him a charge upon any other institution
or agency, and which has so incapacitated
him prior to the loss of sight, that such person
was a public charge prior thereto."
3. What shall be the amount of relief
granted ?
This question is only dealt with very
briefly by the writers who realise that
" adequacy to meet the need of the applicant "
is the real answer to the query. They do,
however, suggest the following general prin-
ciples : — ■
(a) That any maximum should be adjusted
at intervals in accordance with the
purchasing power of the dollar.
(b) That no grant should be so large as to
discourage industry.
(c) That nothing should be done to en-
courage intermarriage among the blind.
A glance at the table given in the book
shows that actually the maximum amount of
relief varies from 150 dollars a year in New
Hampshire to 600 dollars in Kansas, but that
the most general figure is the 300 dollars
payable in Colorado, Maine, Missouri,
Nebraska and several other States.
4. How shall relief be administered ?
The writers point out that an annual
review of the circumstances of those in receipt
of relief is essential, both in the interests of
the blind whose circumstances may have
changed for the worse since the grant was
made, and in that of the tax-paying public
who need to be assured that their money is
being wisely expended ; such a revision of
cases is apparently by no means universal,
and some startling examples of its neglect
are cited.
Relief appears to be paid as a rule quarterly
and even in one case half-yearly ; those who
are familiar with some of the difficulties
experienced by recipients of City pensions
in this country who are paid quarterly
are not surprised that monthly relief is
advocated by the writers. Payment in
cash rather than by cheque or warrant is
recommended, and proper precautions are
advised in order that the blind person himself
shall be assured of the benefit of the relief, a
trustee being appointed to act on his behalf
where there is any likelihood of the money
being squandered either by the recipient or
his relations.
Finally we are reminded by the authors
that merely to place a good law upon the
statute books is not enough : even a good
law can fail utterly if it is badly or carelessly
administered — " All that the legislator can
do is to provide practicable machinery for the
administration of adequate blind relief, and
erect reasonable mechanical safeguards against
abuses. If this machinery is to function
effectively, public opinion must afford it
intelligent direction, a right spirit and com-
munity support."
PAGE
55
BEACON
THE PREVENTION OF BLINDNESS
IN AMERICA.
TO no department of blind
welfare in the United States
has more attention been
devoted than to the subject
of prevention of blindness,
which is, in the words of
Dr. Best " one of the most
significant as well as one of the most import-
ant undertakings of the day."
In America, as in England, the first steps
were taken by the medical profession in the
campaign against the ravages of infantile
ophthalmia, but there, as here, the field of
activity soon widened to include many other
forms of prevention, and also extended from
the medical profession to the lay social
worker, acting under the guidance of the
expert.
In 1887 the New York Medical Committee
appointed a sub-Committee to investigate
the question of infantile ophthalmia, and
their action was soon imitated by various
other medical bodies. Early in the nineteen
hundreds two Societies were founded to deal
with the problem of prevention, known
respectively as the American Association for
the Conservation of Vision, and the New York
State Committee for the Prevention of
Blindness, and these two later merged as the
National Committee (now the National
Society) for the Prevention of Blindness.
To-day this Society is associated with many
other health agencies through the National
Health Council, and consists of over twenty-
five thousand members and contributors in
all parts of the States. Its threefold aim is
described in its constitution as follows : —
1. To ascertain the causes of blindness
and of impaired vision.
2. To work towards the elimination of
such causes.
3. To spread knowledge relating to the
proper care and use of the eyes.
In the Report of the Red Cross Societies on
the Prevention of Blindness (1929) where an
account is given of work in the direction of
blindness-prevention throughout the world, a
detailed description is given of the way in
which the National Society in America sets
out towards the accomplishment of the
threefold aim mentioned above. Its work is
PAGE
56
developed in five main directions which may
be briefly noted here : —
1. Prevention of blindness in infancy. In
co-operation with the State and provincial
health authorities of North America data
relating to State laws, regulations, and
practices concerned with infantile prevention
are compiled and published for the benefit of
health authorities and legislative bodies. A
very simple leaflet is published for the use of
parents explaining what is meant by "babies'
sore eyes," giving an account of the Crede
treatment, and emphasising the importance
of immediate medical attention in all cases of
eye-trouble in young children. In 1926, the
National Society, acting on behalf of the
Standing Committee on Conservation of
Vision of the State, issued questionnaires to
the Executive Health Officers of various
States, to departments of obstetrics in the
Medical Colleges, and to Maternity Hospitals,
with regard to the use of prophylactics in the
eyes of the newly-born, and collected very
valuable information as a result, with regard
to the number of States where there is com-
pulsory notification of infantile ophthalmia,
the different types of infection that may
cause it, and the effectiveness of a prophy-
lactic in preventing blindness.
2. Examination of the eyes of pre-school
children.
In 1925 a Centre for the care of the eyes of
children under school age was opened in
New York, as a result of a very careful survey
of the eyes of children between the ages of
three and six, which had revealed the fact
that between 10 and 15% had some eye
defect that in many cases might be corrected
if taken in time. The tests are carried out by
means of the Snellen symbol E chart, and
have proved so successful that demonstra-
tions of the methods adopted are frequently
given by agents of the Society in various
States and in Canada, to associations of public
health officials, nurses and teachers.
3. Care of the school child.
In 1925 an important Report " Conserving
the Sight of the School Children " was
prepared and submitted for approval to
oculists, school authorities and health officials.
It emphasises the extent of defective vision
BEACON
among school children, urges the necessity of
eye examinations as part of the general school
health routine, and gives information as to
the proper use of the Snellen tests by teacher
or school nurse where the services of an
ophthalmologist are not available for the
preliminary examination, as must often be
the case in isolated rural districts.
The first sight-saving class was established
in 19 1 3 in Boston, and the example set was
soon followed in Cleveland, New York, and
Detroit. To-day there are about 350 such
classes in the States, but as the number
needed is estimated at about 4,650 there is
still much to be done. In these classes are
found four types of children — those whose
sight is corrected by glasses, but who cannot
use the books and apparatus of the normal
child for an extended period without feeling
strain, those whose sight cannot be wholly
corrected by glasses, those who are myopes,
and those who have hereditary or acquired
disease which may be arrested or even cured
by proper treatment and care.
The methods adopted in sight-saving
classes include the use of clear-type books,
the provision of movable desks, the use of
educational material that does not involve
eye-strain, and very careful lighting of the
school-rooms.
The National Society for the Prevention
of Blindness has published literature on
Methods of Teaching Sight Saving Classes
and The Organisation of Sight Saving
Classes, which they distribute free to teachers
engaged in the work, and in addition they
publish a " News Letter " and a magazine,
" The Sight Saving Class Exchange." Fur-
ther to help the teacher interested in sight-
saving methods, special courses are arranged
by the Universities of New York, Cincinnati,
Chicago and Southern California, and in all
these the National Society has taken an
active part. Important Conferences are
convened by the Society from time to time
and the Reports of these Conferences cover
a very wide field, and are of considerable
interest and importance.
4. Trachoma.
Trachoma is a disease specially prevalent
among American Indians, and the National
Society in co-operation with the United
States Public Service has carried on research
in a clinic at Rolla, Missouri, and also studied
the incidence of the disease among the Indians
at Rice Lake, Minnesota. Important re-
searches carried on in the Rockefeller Labora-
tories by Dr. Hideyo Noguchi on the causes
of trachoma promised to be very successful
and were watched with deep interest by the
National Society, but were unhappily cut off
by the death of the scientist.
5. Accidents in Industry.
Though blindness due to infantile ophthal-
mia steadily declines and should eventually
be exterminated, industrialism still exacts
a heavy toll, and the elimination of eye-
hazards in industry is one of the main tasks
before the Society. The Society's publication
" Eye Hazards in Industrial Occupations "
deals with the types of eye injury due to
industrial accident, the precautions to be
taken, the question of industrial lighting, and
first aid in eye injuries. Conferences are held
jointly with the National Safety First Council,
and articles are printed in industrial maga-
zines, trade journals, and the publications of
Trade Unions urging the importance of
proper lighting both in home and workshop,
the prevention of accidental injuries and the
elements of eye hygiene. The title of one
paper read at the Conference noted above —
" Getting the hard-boiled workman to guard
his eyes " suggests that at least part of the
work of the National Society must lie in the
direction of persuasion. Realising this, and
that in the past most of the literature and
statistics used in the " Safety First " move-
ment have been negative, the National
Society and National Safety Council have
lately issued and circulated very widely a
Report showing how the use of mechanical
devices has saved sight.
6. Propaganda.
Agents of the National Society are con-
stantly travelling from one State to another,
lecturing, conferring with health and educa-
tion authorities, showing exhibits, pictures
and lantern slides, and co-operating with
other social agencies in the work of
prevention.
It has been possible here only to sketch
very briefly the great work which the National
Society is carrying on, but those who study
the Reports of the work must agree that the
honour lately conferred upon Dr. Park
Lewis, its Vice-President, who has been
elected Vice-President of the newly formed
International Association for the Prevention
of Blindness, is one that is well deserved.
PACK
57
BEACON
BRAILLE MUSIC AND THE
AMERICAN INFLUENCE.
By EDWARD WATSON,
Secretary, Music Department, National Institute for the Blind, London.
1" UNDERSTAND that it is proposed to
pay tribute in the current issue of
The New Beacon to the constructive
work of the great American nation in
the Cause of the Blind, and I have
been asked if I have anything to say
in this connection on the subject of
Braille Music.
On thinking over the matter, I recollected
a remarkably able article which appeared in
the June, 1925, issue of the official Organ of
the American Foundation for the Blind —
The Outlook for the Blind — contributed by
Mr. Louis W. Rodenberg, of the Illinois
School for the Blind, Jacksonville.
The subject was " Embossed Music, its
history, present status, and its future."
After making a masterly survey, Mr.
Rodenberg indulged in some anticipations of
future developments, which the sequence of
events since 1925 have so amply justified that
he is entitled to be respected as something of
a seer.
He divides what he speaks of as " the
embossing period," into six " eras."
The first he terms " the dark age for the
blind," broken in the 16th century when the
Italian physician, Girolama Cardan, con-
ceived the idea that the blind might be taught
to read by touch.
Second : " the era of speculation," when
men like Diderot and Rousseau began to
speculate on the possibilities of overcoming
blindness', ever approaching the problem
through the question of palpable reading.
Third : " the era of experimentation "
(roughly 1785 to 1871), during which period
Haiiy, Barbier and Louis Braille in France ;
Gall, Lucas, Frere and Moon in Great
Britain ; Howe, Russ and Wait in America ;
and others, experimented with their various
systems of either line-letter or of dot embos-
sing, the latter named bringing out their books
(or music) in quantity by means of presses
adapted to each particular style of imprinting.
Fourth : " the era of codification " (say
1871-1892), in which the principal develop-
ment of Braille was in music-notation.
This began with the publication, in 1871,
PAGE
5$
of a short pamphlet compiled at the instance
of Dr. T. R. Armitage, explaining the Braille
musical system as then practised at the School
for the Blind, Paris, where Louis Braille had
himself been the instructor.
Incidentally, it is interesting to note that
in the third year after the inauguration of the
British and Foreign Blind Association, so
auspicious a beginning should have been
made in regard to the musical education of
the blind on scientific lines.
Similar explanatory pamphlets made their
appearance in Germany (1879) and in Paris
(1885), but local " improvements " having
been incorporated in the text, variations of
actual practice in different countries super-
vened, so that, in 1888, it was necessary to
refer the whole matter to an international
Congress, which met at Cologne, the decisions
of which determined the use in England,
France, Germany and Denmark for approxi-
mately a quarter of a century.
Fifth : " the era of Catalogue-building,"
which Mr. Rodenberg dates from 1892, i.e.
about the time that the stereotyping machine
invented by Frank Hall, then Superintendent
of the Jacksonville School for the Blind,
enabled metal plate embossing to be done by
mechanical means instead of by hand, i.e.
with stylus and hammer.
Sixth : " the era of disturbance " (say
1 908- 1 922) during which the whole question
of Braille music-notation was under discussion
by experts of every country. Throughout
this period, tests and experiments were
everywhere made on the various suggestions
proffered by practical music-braillists for such
an improvement of the music-transcription
method as should bring it into line with all
the transcription problems presented by
modern staff-notation for effective solution.
In England, this culminated in the epoch-
making publication of the National Institute's
" Key to Revised Braille Music-Notation,
1922 " ; and, in the United States, of the
American " Key " of 1925, under the Editor-
ship of Mr. Rodenberg.
In the new (1927) Edition of Grove's
" Dictionary of Music and Musicians "
BEACON
(Macmillan), an article on " Braille Music-
notation," contributed by myself at the
request of the Editor, concludes by insisting
upon the necessity of international uniformity
of practice, now that the whole question had
been so thoroughly discussed. The desir-
ability also of the avoidance of duplication of
the same publications by the Braille publish-
ing houses of various countries is stressed,
particularly as an understanding might easily
be arrived at by the Publication Committees
concerned as to what works each Institution
might produce. This, it was stated, would
also conduce to an enormously increased
range of selection of musical works available
in Braille to students of every country.
The establishment in the near future of an
international Clearing House for the acqui-
sition by the blind of any work of any cata-
logue, is an idea which is already being
favourably entertained on both sides of the
Atlantic, and must undoubtedly materialize
at no distant date.
Particularly rapid progress has been made
during the last four or five years in regard to
the actual adoption of uniformity of practice.
Under the auspices of the American Braille
Press, an important international Congress
was held in Paris in April, 1929, when
fourteen nations of Europe and North and
South America came to an agreement whereby
the actual symbols used in Braille Music were
(like those of the staff-notation) to be stand-
ardized throughout the world. This comes
into operation this Spring.
The American Braille Press, through its
Sec. -General, Monsieur G. L. Raverat, of
Paris, has suggested that, at a subsequent
date, it will be prepared to offer its hospitality
to the delegates of a further international
Congress convened for the discussion of the
absolute uniformity of methods of transcrip-
tion (as distinct from the now happily settled
question of the actual symbols used in Braille
music-notation). If the result proves as
successful as that of the Paris Conference of
1929, the entire Braille system of music-
notation will thenceforward be standardized
throughout the world, just as in the case of
the Staff-notation system of the seeing.
Then, to borrow an Americanism, " things
will begin to hum ! "
Before concluding, I should like to have
the privilege of paying a personal tribute to
the blind delegate who represented the
American Foundation so ably at the Paris
Congress of 1929 — Mr. Rodenberg. No
more alert or efficient international repre-
sentative could have been elected. As a
member of that Conference I can speak for
all the delegates when I say that, from the
outset, he was appreciated as a man of great
and varied experience, both as a musician
and as a Braille-music expert. He brought
to bear just those qualities of fine dis-
crimination, combined with breadth of view,
which were so important in the animated
discussions of so mixed an assembly of
internationals, each, perhaps, more or less
naturally disposed to favour the practice of
his own country, even though strenuously
endeavouring to appreciate the view-point of
others. Mr. Rodenberg's calm, unprejudiced
mental attitude and manner set an example
of fairness and of " playing the game " which,
at certain critical moments, had its salutory
reactions upon the temper of the whole
assembly. As an instance : — Though himself
the inventor of that ingenious American
system of Braille transcription known as the
" Bar-ozw-bar " method, his feelings were
so keen on a vital English point which
was then under discussion, that he broke
in at an extremely anxious moment for us
English delegates with the protest : — " Look
here, friends, if we are going to drop this
very important ' *Bar-6y-bar sign ' " (an
English sign we were all arguing about), " then
I might as well pack up and get away back
home at once ! " This unexpected outburst,
uttered in firm tones of conviction, and
rendered all the more effective by a slight
American drawl, had an electrical effect and
saved the situation.
Thus our American friends, though they
do not as yet " see all the way " with us (any
more than do some of our Continental
brethren), yet possess a keen desire for that
uniformity which we all equally hope will
ultimately be secured, to our corporate
advantage. And, although this goal has not
hitherto been attained, still an enormous
advance has been made in that direction
during the last few years, during which period
America — most happily represented in mat-
ters musical by a man of such all-round
intellectual, artistic, and business-like quali-
fications as Mr. Louis W. Rodenberg — has
played a prominent and important part.
* Bar-by-bar is the English method of transcription.
PAGE
59
BEACON
A REMARKABLE LIBRARY.
IT is to be hoped that at the New York
Conference some of the delegates
will be given an opportunity to inspect
one of the most interesting collections
in the blind world, that of the Library
of the Perkins Institution. More than
thirty years ago, Mr. Anagnos, then
Principal of the Institution, paid a visit to
Vienna, and was deeply impressed by the
Library at the Royal Imperial Institution for
the Blind. J With *he help of Dr. Alexander
Mell, _ who'! had been responsible for the
Vienna Library, he decided to set himself to
collect books and pamphlets relating to the
blind in all languages and from all countries,
and when he was in his turn succeeded at the
Perkins Institution by Dr. Edward Allen, the
present Principal, the work still went on, and
has indeed been greatly enriched by Dr.
Allen's devoted labours.
It is housed in special fireproof stacks, and
is available for all students of blind welfare,
who come from far and near to consult it.
Dr. Best, whose work " The Blind " is
extraordinarily well documented, made great
use of the material stored there, and has
described the Library in high terms of
praise — " possibly the greatest single collec-
tion of literature upon the blind in the world
— certainly in the English language
among specialised libraries upon any subject
the Library for the Blind at the Perkins Institu-
tion is doubtless to be given a foremost place."
It would be interesting to know how far in
a collection of this kind any weeding-out
process is desirable ; sometimes one is
inclined to think that the waste paper basket
is the proper resting place at a fairly early
date for Annual Reports and other " books
that are no books " of the same type. And
yet, even the dullest of Reports may yield
valuable information to the historian, and a
little thought leads us to the depressing
conclusion that perhaps nothing ought to be
destroyed. To say this, however, is only
half the story ; and the other half must rest
with the Librarian. A lumber room of
unsorted dusty documents is quite useless
and the most skilful filing and cross-indexing
are necessary if a way for the student is to be
found through the labyrinth.
The catalogue of the English books in the
Perkins Library suggests that such filing and
PAGE
60
indexing have been scrupulously carried out
there, and though it is less edifying and
certainly less exciting to wander through a
catalogue than through a Library, even the
three volumes of the catalogue afford some
very pleasant reading, and we are left longing
to know more of the contents of such books
as " Catherine Mewis. Faithful account of
Catherine Mewis of Parton-under-Needwood
in Staffordshire, who is deprived of her
eyesight six days out of seven, and can only
see on the Sabbath," or of " The Museum of
Diversion, with Horrible Tales."
Among the many rare volumes to be found
in the Library, some in original editions, and
others out of print, are Diderot's " Lettre sur
les Aveugles " (1772), Valentin Haiiy's
" Essai sur l'education des aveugles " (1786),
and a copy of the original pamphlet in which
Louis Braille described his " Nouveau pro-
cede pour representer par des points la forme
me me des lettres."
The Library falls into ten main sections,
dealing with the employment and training of
the blind, blind biography, books by blind
authors, the causes and effects of blindness,
the blind in literature, colour-blindness, the
deaf-blind, education, and specimens of
embossed type, but it is impossible here to
do more than touch on one or two of the
sections ; perhaps those dealing with the
blind as authors, the causes and effects of
blindness, and the blind in literature, are of
most interest to the general reader.
The list of blind writers is a surprisingly
long one, and it is interesting to find that John
Bidlake, D.D., a blind clergyman who
" delivered eight discourses before the Uni-
versity of Oxford "in 1821, was the Bampton
Lecturer, that the last part of the famous
" The Roadmender " was written by Michael
Fairless after total blindness had overtaken
her, or that the only American who holds the
French honour of" Chevalier de la Melusine"
is Edward Perry, a blind musician. The very
wide range of interests represented among the
blind writers is an ample vindication of the
view that a loss of physical sight need carry
with it no narrowing of the spiritual and
mental vision ; agriculture, history, mathe-
matical treatises, memoirs, political economy
and theology are all represented.
In the section dealing with the physiology
BEACON
of blindness a large number of books is
included, covering a very wide period of
time, and ranging from " An Essay on
Vision " (Adams, 1789), or " Observations on
a Young Gentleman born Blind " (Cheseldon,
1741), to some of the most recent publications
on prevention, the care of the sight of the
school-child, the prevention of eye accidents
in industry, and the campaign against
trachoma.
The corresponding section entitled "Blind-
ness— effect " is made up of books and articles
dealing with blindness from the standpoint
of the psychologist, and is one of special
interest to the educationist, treating as it does
of such subjects as a comparative study of
the sense-perception of blind and seeing,
mental characteristics associated with blind-
ness, colour hearing, and dreams.
The division, " The Blind in Literature,"
is extremely interesting, but its usefulness is,
of course, hardly so apparent as that of the
other sections. That Rochester became
blind in " Jane Eyre " does not really matter
very much to our judgment of the story,
while the memory of Mrs. Barclay's hero of
" The Rosary " seems hardly worth perpetu-
ating, save as an awful example. But perhaps
this is captious, and in any case there is
something very engaging in such titles as
" Little Susan, the blind girl," or " Patience
and impatience " and, however superior we
may pretend to be, most of us have a sneaking
feeling that we would like to know more of
" Blind Martha, the message girl ; from
Hunted Down, or the Recollections of a
City Detective."
In an article on libraries The Outlook some
time ago mentioned that in addition to the
one at the Perkins Institution there is a
collection, then numbering 800 bound
volumes, and innumerable pamphlets, being
built up by the American Foundation. In
the same issue Dr. Best wrote that the best
collection in Great Britain " seems to be that
of the National Institute for the Blind." If
this is correct, we have an uneasy feeling that
it is an inadequate best, and it would seem
that the time has come to attempt something
more comprehensive. Those who are visiting
America in connection with the Conference
will, we hope, come back inspired to imitate
the Perkins Library as Mr. Anagnos was, in
his day, inspired by that in Vienna.
A DEAF-BLIND CHILD'S OUTLOOK.
KATHRYNE FRICK, a deaf-
blind American, has re-
cently published the story
of her education in the
pages of The Atlantic
Monthly. She lost her
sight, hearing, and speech
soon after her fifth birthday, and her illness
which deprived her of these senses left her a
cripple also for two years. Her story is told
with great simplicity but marvellous insight,
and the reader is left with a feeling that while
every word bears the impress of perfect truth
Miss Frick must have had, even from early
childhood, an almost uncanny insight into
her own mental processes, to enable her to
present to us so clear and lovable a picture of
the small girl she describes, with her impet-
uous affection, her pathetic longing to receive
attention, even to the point of being naughty,
her pride in her appearance, and her love of
neatness and order.
Fortunately her parents were people of
imagination and resource, and were unweary-
ing in their efforts to keep their child in touch
with the outside world, taking her about with
them, allowing her to handle everything
within reach, inventing signs, and encouraging
her to make sounds even when they were
meaningless. For some time no school would
accept the little girl on account of her double
defect, but finally through the good offices of
the Governor of Pennsylvania, a special
teacher was found in Miss Julia Foley, of the
Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf, and
arrangements were made for Kathryne's
admission there.
To tell the story of her education in words
other than her own would be to spoil so fresh
and naive a narrative, but it is impossible
within the limits of a short article to do more
than to quote a few characteristic para-
graphs, with as few comments as possible.
Miss Frick writes as follows in description
of her first day at the Institution : — " The
grass was high . . . and my teacher let me walk
about and pick the flowers. I discovered that
there were no stones or fences over which I
might fall, and therefore decided that it
would be safe for me to run around alone. I
PAGE
6l
BEACON
loved to run and did not like to be led ... I
made a plan to fool my teacher. I pointed
away off and pushed her a little, which told
her that there were flowers over there that I
wanted ; then I patted the ground on which
I stood to tell her I would stay where I was
while she picked the flowers for me. I knew
that she was a good-sized woman, and since
she wore a pointed belt like my grandma's,
I took it for granted that she was not young
or over-active. My mother was slender and
often ran after me when I ran away, but here
in front of this big, big house, where many
ladies and gentlemen were, I thought that my
teacher would not dare to run like a boy. So
I darted away in the opposite direction (I
did not know then that she taught physical
culture in the evenings and that she enjoyed
running almost as much as I did). It was
not long before she caught me and held me
fast. She put my hand on her chin and shook
her head vigorously to tell me in a most
emphatic way that I must not run away. I
knew that already, but I tried to look as if I
had not done anything wrong."
The childish plot to " fool teacher," the
deduction that a belt like grandma's must
spell inactivity, and the little girl's attempt to
" look as if I had not done anything wrong,"
are all interesting and important points.
It is curious and not a little humiliating to
read how the small Kathryne summed up her
teacher in those early days. We grown-ups
are so easily persuaded that children look up
to us as Olympians, that the cool scrutiny of
the little deaf-blind girl who tells us that she
regarded her teacher as " some sort of fussy
mixy-up person " makes us a little uncom-
fortable, even though we know that Miss
Foley's apparently untidy confusion of cubes
and squares was really part of Kathryne's
sense training. " She did not know," writes
her pupil, " where the needles or strings were
kept, and she was a borrower too. I tried to
tell her in signs that my mother always knew
where to find things ... I wished she were
more like my mother." And Kathryne's
horror at Miss Foley's appearance without
gloves, " carrying an old wooden box un-
wrapped under her arm " is delightfully
typical of the extreme convention which is a
characteristic of so many children.
Perhaps one of the most striking features
of the narrative is the way in which Kath-
ryne refused to accept her teacher's word just
PAGE
62
because it was hers, and insisted on holding
tenaciously to her own opinions till she was
convinced by reason and not by mere author-
ity. One extract from her teacher's diary
illustrates this very well. Miss Foley was
anxious to teach Kathryne that excessive
drinking was an evil, and to do so, she told
her the story of an intelligent man in good
circumstances who took to drink and in a few
years lost health, fortune and friends, ending
her moral anecdote with the rhetoric question
spelled into Kathryne's hand — " Who wants
a drunkard for a friend ? " Kathryne's
answer was a little disconcerting — " Another
drunkard." Miss Foley tried again on a new
tack — " Who wants to associate with a bad
man ? " and once more was rather baffled to
receive the perfectly logical answer "Another
bad man." So she set off again with " Who-
would like to have the President of the United
States for his friend ? " thinking that this
time she surely would get " Everyone " as
her reply and so be able to lead her pupil to
the opposite " Nobody," and clear up the
" drunkard for a friend " tangle. But
Kathryne was equal to the occasion, realising
like the good little American citizen that she
was, that the honour of the friendship of the
American President is something to which
Kings would aspire, and answered " King
George."
It is impossible here to give details of the
way in which Miss Foley taught Kathryne
to read and write and to cultivate her " lan-
guage memory," but teachers of the deaf and
blind would do well to read Miss Frick's
narrative for themselves. Her story ends
very simply, for she has not taken up any
outside career ; following the advice of her
teachers she returned home when school days
were over, and is now living with her parents
" as busy and as happy and content as most
persons in the circumstances of my parents
are. I help Mother with her household
duties and do little things for Father when he
returns home tired from work ; I dress dolls
and sell them to get pin money. Then, in
addition, I am taking a course in English
composition and rhetoric from the Hadley
Correspondence School which, with my
reading, helps to keep me mentally alert . . .
And the future ? Well, my first teacher
taught me to enjoy the present and to leave
bridge crossing until I should come to the
bridge."
cDficC^/cw
Published by \J II, l\ i i IX. Editorial Offices:
the National W^ ■""* /~\ I 8 I X 22A Greal Por'-
Institute Jot I I / % \ ,\ / ^ land Street,
the Blind JL>TjL^i VV> V^JL ^1 ^onJon. If. I.
HAIL, COLUMBIA!
NEVER before, we think, has The New Beacon, or any of its predecessors,
dedicated an issue to another country. But never before has another country
been able to offer such generous hospitality as the United States is offering
this Spring to the Blind World as a whole. Any plans for holding an Inter-
national Conference in America had hitherto been frustrated by the
expensiveness of the journey from Europe. Our American friends, viewing
the possibilities with characteristic largeness of view, have made the journey
possible for many who otherwise must have remained at home, and the Conference, which is
to begin on April 13th, in New York, will be in the fullest sense a World Conference, at which
diversity of tongues will, we hope, serve but to emphasize unity of aim and singleness of mind.
The articles printed in this issue are intended, therefore, to depict, in simple outline, the
present-day organisation of work for the blind in the United States. The Federal structure of
the United States leads to wide variations in social legislation and practice in different parts of
the country. Mr. Irwin's article in this issue shows that this wide variation exists in the affairs
of the blind as in other spheres. To quote, with our own italics : " At the end of 1929 there
were tiventy-one States having such special relief laws for the blind . . . In several large cities
private associations for the blind have been organised to carry on such activities as Home Teaching,
Placement Work, Sheltered Workshops, Recreation Projects and Eye Clinics . . . ". Into
such points as these visitors will wish to inquire, and they will certainly be interrogated about
them on their return by their colleagues who are not attending the Conference.
The reports to be made by the British delegates will be of the first importance. It is not
enough that delegates should throw their ideas into the common pot of the Conference and
pool their experience with that of others who are working under different conditions ; what is
required, in addition, is that the delegates, on their return to their own work, should be able
to inform, and even inspire others by telling of what they themselves have learned.
The English Delegation is going to the Conference to give other nations the benefit of its
experience, and to learn everything that may be of value to the blind in the British Empire.
Each delegate will report to his or her own organisation, but it is to be hoped that something of
a synoptic report will also be prepared by the Delegation as a whole.
This great opportunity has been afforded by the energy and co-operation of four organisations:
the American Foundation for the Blind, the American Association of Instructors of the Blind,
the American Association of Workers for the Blind, and the American Braille Press ; and to
them we may express the warmest appreciation and gratitude.
AN ELECTIVE COUNCIL FOR THE N.I.B.
The Council of the National Institute for the Blind has taken a bold step forward in
reconstituting its Council so as to make it predominantly a representative body, directly elected
by organisations for the blind throughout the country.
This step was foreshadowed in 1927 when the N.I.B. made its Unification " pact " with
the Advisory Committee on Work for the Blind, since when the Council of the N.I.B. has
contained nearly fifty per cent, of representative persons nominated by the Advisory Committee
for election by the N.I.B. No one will be more gratified by the further advance towards national
unity in work for the blind than these " representative persons," who by their services as
Councillors have removed any lingering fears that a representative Council might not be an
effective instrument for national work.
The vital importance at present of strengthening and consolidating voluntaryism in work for
the blind throughout the country, no less than the development of the Institute's own work,
makes the Council's new move singularly opportune.
The Editor.
page
63
BEACON
HOME NEWS
Mr. Edward Watson to Address Braille Club.
Mr. Edward Watson, Secretary of the National Institute's Music Department,
is to speak at the Annual Meeting of the Braille Club on April 13th, at the Royal
Pavilion, Brighton.
First Whist Prize Win by Blind Man.
The first whist prize in the fourth Annual Programme Whist and Bridge Drive,
organised by the Worthing Society for Befriending the Blind, was won by Mr. J. Lambeth,
one of the totally blind guests.
Effort for Blind Club Postponed through Sunday Observance Act.
A Newcastle charitable institution — the Tyneside Recreation Club for the Blind —
has had to postpone an entertainment which was to have been given on Sunday, March
8th, owing to the resurrection of the Sunday Observance Act.
The proceeds of the entertainment were to have gone to the funds of the club, and
the Lord Mayor, Alderman David Adams, had consented to be present.
Famous Huntsman Stricken with Blindness.
Mr. Fred Holland, known throughout England as one of the finest huntsmen in
the country, has had to give up hunting. He met with an accident, which resulted in
partial blindness three years ago. He is taking the affliction bravely, but he finds the time
hanging heavily on his mind.
New Braille Branch of Scripture Gift Mission.
The Committee of the Scripture Gift Mission have opened a new Braille Branch,
and are publishing some of the best-known booklets, such as " God hath Spoken," and
" Four Things that God wants you to Know." The booklets are in half-pocket size,
and, therefore, are suitable for widespread distribution. Those who would like to
receive such literature are invited to communicate with the Secretary, Scripture Gift
Mission, Braille Department, Eccleston Flail, Eccleston Street, S.W.i.
Blind Married Women Banned from Warrington Workshops.
The Blind Persons' Sub-Committee of the Warrington Corporation have endorsed
the action of the Voluntary Society in refusing to accept married women as blind workers
in their workshops, and have agreed that the question of blind married female home
workers should be referred to the society for consideration.
Councillor F. Stringer, chairman of the Health Committee, replying to a discussion
at the Town Council, said that the committee decided some time ago that they could
not accept married women into the workshops, and recently acute cases had occurred
which had caused the committee to put their decision into effect. On the recommendation
of the blind people themselves, a prohibitive clause was placed in the scheme to prevent
an influx of blind people who might endeavour to obtain benefits that might be larger
in Warrington than in other towns.
Magic for the Blind.
Members of the Sports Club for the Blind in London were recently given an enter-
tainment, " Magic for the Blind," by Mr. Fred Gower, a member of the Magic Circle.
The conjuring and thought-reading items which Mr. Gower has specially adapted for
a blind audience were greatly appreciated. Mr. Gower's thought-reading " medium "
was Mr. J. Wakefield, a totally blind man, whose accuracy in reading the totals of long
addition sums prepared by members of the audience on a blackboard was completely
mystifying. Among other feats Mr. Wakefield guessed accurately the colour of handker-
chiefs selected from a multi-coloured collection by members of the audience. A similar
performance has been given to a gathering of the Magic Circle in Fleet Street.
Mr. Gower is willing to give this entertainment voluntarily to other social clubs
or schools for the blind ; in the case of distances from London travelling expenses would
be required. Secretaries of societies anxious to take advantage of this offer should
communicatt with the Editor of The New Beacon.
PAGE
64
BEACON
Sweepstake Winners' Generosity.
Messrs. Ward, Tormey and Prescott, who drew the first horse in the Irish Sweepstake
for the Manchester Novemher handicap, have each given £200 to be invested in the
personal interests of the blind boys who drew the lucky tickets.
25s. a Week for Leicester Unemployables.
The Leicester City Council has adopted a scheme proposed by the Parliamentary
and General Purposes Committee to increase the annual contribution to the Leicester,
Leicestershire and Rutland Institution for the Blind, to enable unemployable blind
persons in the city to receive an income of 25s. per week.
This will probably involve the payment of a further £2,000 a year.
Councillor H. Simpson said they did not want the administration of the blind to be
brought on to the city, which would mean a check to the gifts and private donations
for that cause.
It was stated that the blind in Leicester were treated more generously than in any
place of the same size.
Official Opening of Blind Masseur's Clinic at Hillingdon.
An interesting function took place at Hillingdon, Middlesex, on Wednesday, March
4th, on the occasion of the official opening of Mr. Ernest WToodcock's Massage and
Electrical Clinic by Capt. Sir Beachcroft Towse, V.C. The chair was taken by the
Rev. H. J. Kitcat, M.A., the Vicar of Hillingdon, supported by Admiral Sir Henry Bruce,
Captain Harvey, the Rev. Mr. Rutherford, Mrs. Albert German (Hon. local representative,
Middlesex Branch, British Red Cross Society), Major Wolley, Mr. Nicoll (Secretary,
Hillingdon Branch, British Legion), Mrs. Burkitt (representing Middlesex Association
for the Blind), Dr. Barrett, Mrs. F. Chaplin Hall (representing the Association of
Certificated Blind Masseurs).
Mr. Woodcock, who is a Chartered Masseur and Bio-Physical Assistant, has started
in private practice in Hillingdon and district, where he has a well equipped and com-
fortably furnished clinic at Denziloe Avenue ; he was trained in the Massage School of
the National Institute for the Blind, and duly qualified in Massage, Remedial Exercises
and Medical Electricitv. Considerable local interest was shown in the clinic, which, in
a delightful speech by Sir Beachcroft Towse, was declared officially opened.
Mr. Woodcock is a blind ex-service man (late Rifle Brigade), and on behalf of the
Metropolitan Branch of the British Legion, Admiral Sir Henry Bruce expressed much
interest in his training, and wished him well in his new career.
FOREIGN NEWS
Burmese Blind Supplying Government Dusters.
Fr. Jackson, of the Mission to the Blind of Burma, says that the Mission's workshops
are " particularly pleased with themselves " at the moment as they have just secured a
contract for supplying dusters to a Government Department.
Ming Sam School for the Blind, Canton.
The Ming Sam School for the Blind, Canton, recently celebrated its fortieth
anniversary ; it was founded by Dr. Mary Niles, who only returned to America after
many years of devoted service in 1929, and it is now in the charge of Miss Carpenter and
Miss Burkwall. There are 41 boys and girls in the Mission-school, and together with
the Report we received a programme of a concert recently given by pupils and students
there. Scenes from the life of Helen Keller, a tableau-representation of " Bob " Byer's
birthday, music on water-glasses, and Chinese songs, all suggest a pleasant note of
originality. Every effort is made by the workers of the Mission to combat blindness,
and to take part in co-operation with hospitals and other health agencies in the work
of prevention.
PAGE
65
BEACON
BLIND MUSICIANS AND TUNERS VISIT
FRANCE AND GERMANY
AT the instance of the National
Union of the Professional
and Industrial Blind a
deputation of musicians
and tuners visited France
and Germany last Novem-
ber, and have now issued
their Report, which is obtainable (price is.)
from 122, St. Thomas' Road, Finsbury Park,
N'4- .
It is extremely interesting and very full
of information closely condensed, so that it is
rather difficult to give a summary that does it
justice ; but in the hope that such a summary
will encourage those of our readers who are
concerned in the training of blind tuners and
musicians to buy the Report and study it in
detail, we give below a rather bald outline of
its principal features.
The object of the deputation (which
included Messrs. C. Kedwell, Sinclair Logan,
Ben Purse, H. Royston, J. Servant, H. C.
Warrilow and Dr. Ernest Whitfield) was to
inquire into the nature and extent of the
training given in France and Germany to
blind musicians and tuners, to ascertain how
that training fitted them for their after-
careers, and how far these careers were
successful. Visits were paid to training
Institutions, Societies for the Blind, and firms
employing blind labour, and a private con-
ference was held in Berlin with musicians
and tuners, when personal contact was
established and informal discussion took
place.
The Report naturally falls into three
distinct parts, first dealing with Germany and
France, and then going on to make certain
recommendations as the result of the in-
vestigations made. It will be convenient
therefore to take each country in turn, and
then to summarise the recommendations.
i. Germany.
Here among the Institutions and factories
visited were the Municipal Institute, the
Brandenburg State Institute, the Training
Centre for the War Blinded, the Saxon State
Institution at Halle, and the Bechstein Piano
factory.
With regard to the training of tuners, it is
observed that very careful selection of candi-
dates is made, and that the period of training
generally varies from two to four years, and is
sometimes carried on together with other
vocational training so that the tuner may,
should his main profession prove inadequate,
have a second string to his bow.
All pupils begin their training with
" chipping-up," training in repairs is always
included in the course, and in certain of the
Institutions towards the end of their training
pupils are given experience in outside
factories and show-rooms.
Hitherto, in spite of pressure from the
German Union of the Blind (a very active
body which afforded the deputation consider-
able help in their investigations), there is no
uniform examination of tuners, and the
certificate granted by the examining board in
Berlin does not carry much weight with the
general public.
Help with tools is given at the conclusion of
training, but very little organised effort is
made to place proficient tuners. Unemploy-
ment is of course a difficulty owing to the
present world depression, and broadcasting
and mechanical music have helped to make
things more difficult. A proficient tuner in
normal times can earn about £3 10s.
Certain very useful tuning tools (notably
those invented by a blind tuning instructor at
Halle) were shown to the deputation.
With regard to blind musicians in Germany,
it is noted that there are no special Music
Schools for the blind alone, but the blind
student who takes up music obtains his
training alongside his seeing fellows. Braille
music is difficult to procure, but an effort to
overcome this obstacle has been made by the
establishment of a central office for the
production of embossed copies which are
sold at cost price, or lent to those unable to
purchase.
Most of the blind musicians in Germany
are organists earning up to about £150 in the
towns and anything from £12 to £50 in the
villages ; very few are expected to be choir-
masters as well.
The difficulties experienced by blind
concert artistes in obtaining engagements are
keenly felt, and a very carefully thought-out
scheme to overcome them has been made by
PAGE
66
BEACON
the German Union of the Blind. Certain
tests have been drawn up, sufficiently
stringent to eliminate all those artistes who
relied on their blindness rather than their
intrinsic musical qualities to obtain engage-
ments, and those who have successfully
passed the test have been placed on an
approved list. An agent is employed by the
Union to arrange concert engagements for
them and the artistes receive 10 per cent, of
the gross takings with a minimum of 50s. per
concert.
2. France.
In France the Institutions and Societies
visited included, among others, the Institu-
tion Nationale, the Institut des freres de St.
Jean de Dieu, and the Association Valentin
Haiiy, all in Paris.
The conclusions reached, as far as tuning
is concerned, were to the effect that the pros-
pects are better than in Germany, the blind
tuner being regarded by the general public as
on the whole more competent than the seeing.
Training usually continues for about three
years, and ends with a State examination of
good repute. Provincial openings are fairly
numerous and the Association Valentin Haiiy,
which is affiliated to organisations in the
country, is often successful in placing trainees
in country districts. The French tuner in a
factory generally earns about £6-£8 monthly,
and though this seems to us poor, the general
lower level of wages in France should be
taken into account.
With regard to the training in France for
professional musicians, the Report notes that
at the Institut des freres de St. Jean de Dieu
it is usual for pupils from the very beginning
to transpose their exercises and simpler pieces
into all keys, which is a valuable practice in
that it makes transposition easier, and
reduces the effort of memorising. Pupils at
this Institution do much of their practising
in a single large room, round which are
ranged twenty-five pianos, all in use at the
sarrle time, and they are said " to acquire the
faculty of concentration and isolation by this
means." It sounds to the lay observer a
rather painful method of acquisition.
The Association Valentin Haiiy does
valuable work both in employing blind
copyists of Braille music and also by its
efforts to obtain work both in town and
country for blind organists, over eight
hundred of whom are said to be employed,
exclusive of a large number of blind women
thus engaged in convents. Payment is poor,
and £20 a year is regarded as satisfactory.
The deputation was fortunate in meeting
Monsieur Thiberge, a blind professor of
music at the Ecole Normale, who has proved
specially successful in the teaching of staff-
notation, and has invented particularly useful
apparatus for this purpose, which the deputa-
tion hopes may be made more generally
known.
3. Recommendations.
As a result of their visit to both countries
the deputation made the following general
recommendations : —
1. That " chipping up," which is univer-
sally included in piano tuning courses in
Germany and France, should be adopted in
the curriculum of tuning schools here.
2. That showroom and factory experience
during training, which is fairly general in
Germany, should also be adopted here.
3. That the performance of repairs from
outside customers and the purchase and
reconstruction of old pianos under skilled
supervision should form part of the training
course for tuners.
4. That music-students should be instruc-
ted to transpose from an early stage of the
training.
5. That there should be closer contact
between music schools for the blind and
such schools as The Royal Academy of
Music and The Royal College of Music, so
that gifted blind pupils should have greater
opportunities of profiting from ordinary
everyday relationships.
6. That the policy of those training centres
which set their face against the blind music
student learning a stringed instrument
should be reversed. The organist, for
instance, might profitably give some time
to the violin as a subsidiary study, with a
view to giving lessons in that instrument.
7. That while such a concert agency as that
organised by the German Union for the
Blind might not be possible here, some
scheme might usefully be devised whereby
blind artistes could be tested by an inde-
pendent committee of experts, and those
who came up to the standard given some
assistance to obtain engagements by per-
sonal application on their behalf to concert
agents.
Conclusion.
Such are the main recommendations of the
Report as far as musicians and tuners are
PAGE
67
BEACON
concerned, but an interesting concluding
section gives an account of some visits paid by
members of the deputation to factories in
Germany, with a view to discovering some-
thing of the general position of the blind
worker in that country who is employed side
by side with sighted labour, under the
Disablement Law of 1920 which requires that
2 per cent, of the labour employed shall be
disabled.
A warm tribute is paid to the energy and
ability of Director Perls of Siemens-
Schuckerts factory, and to the two Berlin
municipal placement officers, and the con-
clusion reached is that the German experi-
ments do show that there is an opening in
factory work for many of the so-called
unemployable blind — " None of the workers
at Siemens-Schuckert had had previous
technical training. They were unskilled
workers and nearly all would normally have
been classified as unemployable." They are
put to simple operations and quickly become
proficient, and although the guaranteed
weekly wage of 28s. sounds small to English
ears it must be remembered that the wage
level for the normal worker in Germany is
much lower than in England. According to
the management of Siemens-Schuckert, 70
per cent, of their blind workers are of normal
efficiency, and when we realise that many of
those employed have serious physical defects
in addition to blindness, the percentage seems
extraordinarily high.
" What has been possible " says the
Report " in America and Germany should be
possible in this country."
# # #
A correspondent who is especially interested
in the question calls attention to a statement
made in the foot-note on page 21 of the
Report comparing the definitions of blindness
in this country and in Germany. The Report
says that blindness, according to the current
Ministry of Health circular No. 780, is to be
reckoned in this country as one-tenth normal
vision after correction by means of glasses
has been made. This fraction is compared
with the one-twenty-fifth which is the corres-
ponding fraction used in Germany, " any
person must be considered as blind whose
sight is not more than one-twenty-fifth of the
normal." Our correspondent points out
that the circular in question, in affording
guidance in determining whether a person is
too blind to perform work for which eye-
PAGE
68
sight is essential, lays down that a visual
acuity greater than 6/6oth with the most
suitable glasses maybe regarded, intheabsence
of such counter-balancing conditions as
great contraction of the field of vision,
marked nystagmus, etc., as presumptive
evidence that the person is not too blind to
perform work for which eyesight is essential.
But the degree of visual acuity should not be
regarded as the sole determining factor and
due consideration should, of course, be given
to all the visual conditions. At the same time
it is essential that only visual conditions
should be taken into account, and other
bodily or mental infirmities should be
disregarded.
RECENT
PUBLICATIONS
Education and Placement.
We have received an interesting group of
folders dealing with education and placement,
issued by the American Foundation for the
Blind. Printed in attractive colours, and
illustrated with well-chosen photographs and
drawings, they arouse interest at first sight ;
the reader feels he wants to know more of
seven-year Arnold intendy tapping out his
home-letter on a Braille writer, or of the
groups of schoolboys busy in the poultry
yard, and at work in the garden.
OBITUARY
We much'regret to report the death of : —
Henry Josiah Wilson, on February 23rd,
at the age of 86 (see sketch of his career on
page 72).
Dr. Henri Racine, who was knocked down
by a taxi-cab in the Champs Elysees, although
carrying one of the recently introduced white
canes for the blind. Dr. Racine had been
blind since 19 14. It was only last month that
he received his degree of M.D. from the
Faculty of Medicine.
Chief-Engineer Rahn, of the Siemens
works in Berlin, who has been the right-hand
man of Direktor Perls in adapting machinery
for the use of the blind and in teaching the
blind to perform processes in ordinary
factories.
BEACON
THE STATE AND CHARITABLE
ENDOWMENTS— VI.
By BEN PURSE.
' Since the value of words must change with widened or contracted thought,
no formula expressed in words can be exhaustive." — Bishop Westcott.
WE have already seen that the
Founders of great endow-
ments, at least in modern
times, possess sufficient
prescience which enables
them to admit the validity
of many claims. Such
Founders recognize the value of open spaces,
playing fields and a thousand and one other
objects of utility and social interest, and it is
conceivable that endowments, established
along these lines, will continue to be of
immense service to untold generations.
However much we may feel that a reform
of our endowed charities is called for, it will
be obvious from what we have previously
stated that it will be necessary to proceed
very cautiously. It has been suggested that
after altering the general law as previously
mentioned it should be declared that the
power of making schemes already vested in
the Court of Chancery and the Charity
Commissioners should be extended so that,
to quote the Commissioners, " Tribunals
having power to establish schemes should be
at liberty to take into consideration the
propriety of effecting the modification of any
provision of the original trust, which, by
reason of lapse of time, or change of circum-
stances, shall appear to be no longer calculated
to promote the substantial object of the
foundation." It is interesting to observe the
point of view of the Commissioners in this
connection, for obviously the opinion is not
the result of any haphazard speculation, rather
is it a point of view borne in upon them from
a very extensive and varied experience. On
their own initiative and without any application
from the Trustees, the Charity Commis-
sioners or the Court of Chancery, should be
vested with the necessary powers in order that
foundations that have become obsolete, and
have ceased to function in accordance with
the original intention, should be capable of
being revised from time to time in order to
meet modern requirements. If the modifica-
tions required are such that the Charity
would be unrecognizable by the Founder, the
endowment should, says Mr. H. F. Brown,
" With due regard to existing vested interests,
become part of a national consolidated
endowments Fund to be administered for
charitable purposes on the lines indicated by
the Carnegie Foundations."
The doctrine of cy praes, though a natural
corollary to the doctrine of the sanctity of a
Founder's wishes, has been carried to absurd
lengths, and it appears more reasonable to
assume a general charitable intention on the
part of a Founder, if his original intentions
fail, than, specifically to appropriate his Fund
to purposes he could never have contemplated.
It is obvious, however, that with certain
rules laid down for their guidance in revising
charitable foundations the Charity Commis-
sioners seem to be eminently a body best
fitted to undertake and discharge duties such
as are herein suggested. May we again refer
to the London Parochial Charities Act of 1883
which forms an excellent precedent. Its
provisions would be capable of a much wider
application than the present restricted service
requires. An additional safeguard would
remain by retaining an appeal from the
Commissioners to the Court as at present. In
these articles we have striven to show that
whilst many foundations are performing
service of inestimable value, others are sorely
in need of reorganisation, and any authority
which can be given to make the Trusts of
still greater public utility must surely be
welcomed by all who are anxious that the
voluntary system should be capable of enlarged
functions and still more permanent service.
May we briefly state other aspects of the
problem calling for reform, (1) All endowed
charities should be under an obligation to
register with the Charity Commissioners and
should be required to systematically render
accounts. Its power should be enforceable in
a summary manner. Those who have
witnessed the operation of the Blind Persons
Act, 1920, must agree that registration of
Charities for the Blind has been, and is, a
PAGE
69
BEACON
permanent advantage. Certainly such regis-
tration has given a quietus to bogus organis-
ations. Generally speaking, those who are
afraid of registration are the administrators of
charity who stand mostly in need of such a
provision.
(2) The Commissioners should have power
to consolidate Charities, for only by this means
will they be able to exercise the beneficent
influences on social life intended by their
founders. Lord Brougham's commissioners
proved that out of 28,880 endowed charities
13,331 had incomes of less than -£5 and that
nearly 6,200 had incomes of less than £1.
(3) The accounts of endowed charities
should be made out in a simple standardised
form and be open for inspection locally ; that
is, by the County or County Borough
Authorities, or by any person having an
interest in the Trusts.
It should be noted in this connection that
the Ministry of Health have for years past
been impressing this point of view on institu-
tions, societies and agencies for the blind, and
although they cannot claim to have been
entirely successful very real progress has been
made in this direction, and the accounts
presented by these organisations are much
more intelligible than was the case a few years
ago. There is no reason why Trustees of
ordinary Benefactions should not present
their affairs in such a manner as can be easily
understood by the public, and if they fail to
do so they lend colour to the assumption that
there is something to hide, when in point of
fact they have no such purpose or intention.
(4) The Charity Commissioners should
have power to make an audit of all charities'
accounts at their discretion, and it would be
useful, from time to time, if a note were made
in the Report of the Commissioners to the
effect that such audits had been completed in
a number of cases and the results recorded.
(5) The administration of charities should
be in the hands of properly appointed
trustees as heretofore, but the trustees of the
Consolidated Endowments Fund should be a
specially selected body having experience of
social work and capable of originating and
carrying through far-reaching experiments in
social improvement. We have not, hereto-
fore, dealt at any considerable length with the
idea that certain Trust Funds should be
consolidated because it seems to us that if a
foundation has become obsolete the natural
and inevitable thing to do is for the State to
PAGE
70
appropriate funds which are no longer
necessary for application in specific directions.
Frequently, the Central and Local Author-
ities have effected such changes by Statutory
provision so as to meet more completely the
need prescribed by certain Trust Funds ;
money has been expended for this more
comprehensive task, and it is reasonable to
assume that the wishes of the founder have
been more completely discharged than could
have been the case by a simple instrument of
private benevolence. Therefore, the estab-
lishment of a Consolidated Fund might very
properly be instituted for the purposes of
achieving benevolent objects of which original
founders of private Trusts would most
cordially approve.
Speaking of the necessity for exercising
caution in dealing with old foundations, a
writer on this subject says : —
" Though the reform of existing founda-
tions must proceed cautiously, new founda-
tions may be treated with greater freedom,
and I hold it to be a sound principle that,
as regards them, there should be a right of
rejection. The State should not be bound
to take whatever is offered to it ; it should
have the right of deciding whether the
particular character that the founder has
given to his endowment should take effect,
or whether the endowment shall be appro-
priated to some other reasonable purpose,
or be included in the Consolidated Endow-
ments Fund."
We do not suppose that this point of view
will be seriously contested, for obviously, the
State, if called upon to place machinery for
adminstrative purposes at the disposal of
Trustees, must have the right to decide
whether the character of a Trust is in con-
formity with public policy or whether it runs
counter to such policy, and if the latter, then
authority should be taken to recast the objects
of the foundation so as to bring it into harmony
with modern needs and requirements. It is
conceded that a certain deference should be
paid to the founder's wishes, at any rate for a
definite period, and some writers on this
subject have suggested during the life of the
founder, and say for a period of twenty-one
years after his death, but obviously those
wishes should never be permitted to interfere
with public welfare, no matter how such
period may have to be limited or even can-
celled.
Rejected endowments should be treated as
BEACON
Trusts, the purposes of which have failed, and
they should automatically fall into the
Consolidated Endowments Fund. Most
lawyers are agreed that the alternative of
treating them as cases of intestacy would be
unsatisfactory, and as a rule be not in accord
with the wishes of the founder. It may be
properly contended that such a founder has
an urge towards charity and none towards his
next of kin. If, when bequests are being
made by Will, the Testator so wishes he can
always give his benevolence a new direction
in the event of the first choice being rejected.
It may be contended that if Charitable
Endowments are to be interfered with in this
fashion they would not be made.
Over and over again social history abounds
with examples completely refuting such a
notion. In education we were told many
years ago that public control would destroy
educational endowments : nothing of the
kind has happened, quite the contrary ; those
endowments have been increased and
strengthened because of the confidence which
has been established in an enlightened public
administration.
As we have indicated elsewhere, much the
same thing was said when the Charity
Commissioners were constituted in the year
1853, but so far as can be judged the inter-
vention of the commissioners has tended to
increase the aggregate Charitable Endow-
ments. It is pointed out that : —
" During the years 191 8 to 1927 the
investments in the Custody of the Official
Trustee of Charitable Funds increased from
£40,930,233 to £70,190,218. The capital is
growing at the rate of two to three million
pounds a year. In the year 1927 there were
49,219 separate accounts and the income
was £2,430,880. This does not take into
account Real Estate nor the Endowed
Charities that have not come under the
cognizance of the Commissioners."
Earlier in these articles we have given even
more conclusive figures, and, therefore, the
point is established beyond refutation that
increased vigilance and central control is not
in the least degree disturbing those who have
money to bequeath for benevolent purposes ;
rather is it stimulating them to give because
they know that the probabilities are that their
bequests will more completely meet the
objects and purposes they have in view than
was the case a few generations ago.
To enlightened founders the example of the
Carnegie and Rockefeller Foundations will
appeal, and they will only be too glad to know
that a means will be provided whereby their
endowments will be applied to the best
advantage in future ages ; for no matter how
far seeing they may be, it is utterly impossible
for them to comprehend social changes that
are calculated to affect their bequests. There-
fore, relying as they do upon a beneficent and
sympathetic administration, they are content
to feel that their bequests will be properly
bestowed.
PERSONAI1A
^The Rt. Hon. Lord Sanderson of
Hunmanby has been appointed a member of
the Placement and General Research Sub-
Committee of the National Institute for the
Blind.
Mr. Thomas Lee, of Ravensthorpe, has
accepted the Presidency of the Dewsbury,
Batley and District Institution for the Blind,
in succession to the late Councillor William
Howgate, of Batley. For many years he has
been an ardent worker for the blind, and he
is a well-known figure in the public life of
Dewsbury.
GORRHONDBG
To the Editor.
Grade III— Braille.
Sir, — The Sub-Committee of the British
Uniform Type Committee have at present
under consideration the revision of the above.
It would help them greatly if they could form
some idea of the number of people in the
country who find this grade of service, or
think it might be of service if improved. They
would welcome any expression of opinion as
to the direction the improvement might take.
Will those who are interested send their
views either to Miss Prince, National Lending
Library, 35, Great Smith Street, London,
S.W.i , or to Miss Glazebrook, of the National
Institute for the Blind, Great Portland Street,
London, W.i.
Yours, etc.,
W. M. Stone,
Superintendent and Headmaster,
The Royal Blind Asylum and School,
Craigmillar Park, Edinburgh.
PAGE
71
REACON
B
HENRY J. WILSON
By P. M. EVANS, M.A., LL.D., J.P.
the death of Henry Josiah
Wilson on the 23rd February,
at his son's residence at Burley,
Hants, there passes away one
who has given many years'
distinguished service in the
interests of the blind com-
munity.
Born at Lydstep near Tenby on the 1st
March, 1844, H. J. Wilson was the third son
of the late Edward Wilson of Hean Castle,
Pembrokeshire.
He was educated at Cheltenham College,
where he acquitted himself well. An attack,
however, of scarlet fever when he was 23
years of age affected his health so seriously
that his doctors recommended him to winter
abroad. He accordingly went to Argentina
and remained there 14 years, in the meantime
regaining both health and vigour.
From an accident incurred in 1871 whilst
lassoing wild horses his right eye was perman-
ently injured, and in spite of medical assistance
— for which he had to travel 200 miles —
could not be saved.
In 1880 he returned home and shortly
afterwards married Miss Edith Nairne,
daughter of the late Rev. John Du Pre
Addison, who predeceased him a few years
ago.
In 1882 he was selected out of 400 appli-
cants for appointment as Secretary to
" Gardner's Trust for the Blind," a post
which he held for 40 years. This appointment
marked the commencement of his long, able
and devoted work on behalf of the blind.
During his Secretaryship he visited all the
principal Institutions for the Blind in England
Scotland and Wales and also many Institu-
tions abroad.
He also attended the following Conferences
of the Blind :—
York 1883
Amsterdam . . . . 1883
Paris 1889
London . . . . 1902
Manchester . . . . 1908
Exeter . . . . 191 1
and the International Conference held in
London in 1914.
He was mainly responsible for the organis-
ation of the Conferences held from 1902
PAGE
72
onwards, being Chairman of the Conference
Committees and reading papers on important
subjects at each Conference.
In addition to these papers, he also read a
paper on " The Education and Employment
of the Blind " before the Royal Society of
Arts, for which he was awarded the Society's
silver medal.
In 1907 he was instrumental in founding
the College of Teachers of the Blind, and was
elected a Fellow of the College in 1909.
The handbook which he issued in 1887,
entitled " Information with regard to
Institutions, Societies and Classes for the
Blind in the United Kingdom " was a most
important work, forming an invaluable guide
to the numerous activities of the blind world.
In 1898 he started the first English Maga-
zine The Blind solely devoted to work for the
blind. He edited this paper for 22 years and
thus left behind him a most valuable history
of the national and international work being
done for the blind.
So great was his knowledge and experience
that his advice and opinion upon all matters
connected with the blind were frequently
sought by the Government. In 1886 he gave
important evidence before the Royal Commis-
sion on the Blind and Deaf and Dumb.
In 1 9 14 he was appointed by the Local
Government Board a Member of the Depart-
mental Committee on the welfare of the
Blind. He was first Vice-Chairman and
later Chairman of the Advisory Committee of
the Blind to the Local Government Board,
now the Ministry of Health, and in 1920 he
was appointed Vice-Chairman of the newly
appointed Advisory Committee.
It was at this time that failing health
compelled him to relinquish his work and he
accordingly tendered his resignation which
was reluctantly accepted by the Committee.
In the same year he was the honoured
guest at a farewell Dinner given to him, at
which Lord Shaw of Dunfermline presided,
when a cheque for £330, together with an
album containing the signatures of the
subscribers, was handed to Mr. Wilson.
In April, 1921, he was presented with the
honorary freedom and Livery of the Cloth-
workers' Company, honoris causa
" In appreciation of the valuable services
BEACON
" rendered by him during the past 40 years
" in the interests and welfare of the blind
" community."
During the course of his strenuous career,
he held the Chairmanship of the following
societies and committees :
College of Teachers of the Blind.
Union of Unions of Agencies for the Blind
(now The Union of Counties Associ-
ations for the Blind).
Metropolitan and Adjacent Counties
Association for the Blind (now South-
Eastern and London Counties Associ-
ation for the Blind).
Federation of London Workshops for the
Blind.
Special Committee to consider the Bill for
the Education and Employment of the
Blind.
National Committee for the Employment
of the Blind.
Federation of Libraries for the Blind.
In addition to the above he was also
connected with many other bodies doing
educational and philanthropic work.
The loss of his valuable advice and assist-
ance was severely felt by all, and he carried
with him into his retirement not only the
regard, affection and esteem of all those who
had been privileged to work with him during
the 40 years above referred to, but also the
gratitude and blessing of the blind community
on whose behalf he had so loyally devoted all
his working years.
Pearson's Fresh Air Fund.
" Roses in December " gives an account of
the work of Pearson's Fresh Air Fund which
has completed thirty-nine years of service
and in 1930 gave two weeks' holiday to 2,850
poor children and a day in the country to
123,152 others. The Report is delightfully
illustrated with pictures of laughing boys and
girls, and accounts are given of the work in
many of the 41 centres, including London,
Liverpool, Manchester and Cardiff. Foun-
der's Day was celebrated on the 17th June, by
a picnic in Epping Forest, when the children
had a distinguished fellow-guest in Sir Gerald
du Maurier. Since the Fund was first
opened by Sir Arthur Pearson no less than
5,610,730 day outings and 98,253 fortnightly
holidays have been given. Mr. Ernest Kessell ,
C.B.E., whose name is almost identified with
the Fund, still continues his effective work
as Hon. Treasurer and Hon. Secretarv.
MUSICAL COMPETITION FESTIVALS AND
THE BLIND.
THE following excerpt from the
193 1 Year-book of the British
Federation of Musical Com-
petition Festivals deals with
a matter of such importance
that we trust our readers will
do their best to see that the
information is passed on to the blind in
every district throughout the country.
" We gladly draw attention to an important
point made by the National Institute for the
Blind, viz : — that many blind musicians
throughout the country are debarred from
participating in Musical Competition Festivals
owing to the difficulty of ascertaining, in
time, which of the various Test-pieces are
available in Braille.
" The Braille Music Catalogue of the
National Institute includes thousands of
musical works, of all types, and the Federation
is informed that the Institute would gladly
(and gratuitously) assist Festival Secretaries
to indicate which pieces are already in Braille.
" We imagine that most Festival Secretaries
would probably find it convenient to send a
printers' proof-sheet, giving the titles of Test-
pieces, to the Secretary of the National
Institute's Music Department, requesting
that a tick be placed against each item
published in Braille. Such requests would
receive prompt attention.
" The following excellently worded explan-
atory note appears in the current Syllabus of
an important Festival which has already
adopted this plan : —
" ' The attention of blind competitors, or
of blind musicians who may wish to present
sighted or blind pupils, is drawn to the
fact that all the Test-pieces which may be
obtained in Braille are indicated in the
Syllabus by an asterisk (*) and they are
published by the National Institute for
the Blind, 224, Great Portland Street,
London, W.i.'
" We commend this matter to the attention
of all Festival Secretaries, as something which
should not only benefit the blind, but also
add many new and worthy competitors to
the lists."
PAGE
73
BEACON
REVIEWS
REPORTS
Cincinnati Library Society for the Blind.
The Report for 1929-30 states that over
2,700 volumes have been added to the
Library during the year, and quotes an
appreciative letter from a reader who writes
that in his eighty-third year he mastered
revised Braille. The Library, in addition to
its purely literary activities, holds a weekly
social gathering, sends visitors to the invalid
and lonely blind, and supplies concert
tickets.
The New York Institute for the Education of
the Blind.
The Report for 1930 is of interest to
English readers in the comparison made by
the Principal of the Institute between the
work done on the manual side in schools in
Europe with that done in America, a com-
parison made as a result of a visit paid to
Germany, England, and Sweden. He is of
opinion that the manual work done in
America is inferior to that in European
schools, because " quite frankly it is the
purpose of these European schools to turn
out artisans." He claims that in America the
aim is " to give every child capable of receiv-
ing it an education that will go beyond the
elementary studies and include the high
school ... in manual training we shall not
attempt more than to offer the pupil oppor-
tunities to learn how to co-ordinate head and
hand."
The Report is delightfully illustrated with
photographs, and includes a particularly
attractive one of a scene from a play acted by
the blind, showing life in colonial days in
America, when the handicrafts specially
associated to-day in our minds with the blind
played a vital part in the life of every house-
hold.
Union of Counties Associations for the
Blind.
The name of the Metropolitan and
Adjacent Counties Association for the
Blind has been changed to the South
Eastern and London Counties Association
for the Blind.
Its area and function are unchanged. Its
area includes Berkshire, Bournemouth,
Brighton, Canterbury, Croydon, Eastbourne,
East Ham, Essex, Hampshire, Hastings,
Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, City of
London, County of London, Middlesex,
Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, South-
end-on-Sea, Surrey, East Sussex, West
Sussex, West Ham.
North Western Counties Association for the
Blind.
A Conference of Secretaries, Home Teach-
ers and others interested in work for the
Blind, will be held in the Cathedral Parlour,
Chester, on 29th April, 1931. Further
particulars can be obtained from the Secretary,
North Western Counties Association for the
Blind, 33, Halkyn Road, Chester.
ANNOUNOMENTS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND.
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MUSIC.
The prices of the following pieces of music are subject
to a reduction of three-quarters for the blind resident
in the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
The minimum price is 6d. per copy.
ORGAN — *. d.
10.633 Bantock, Granville. Processional,
from " The Song of Songs " (arr.
by Chris Edmunds) ... ... ... 2 4
10.634 Mendelssohn. Wedding March ... 2 0
10.635 Rowley, Alec. Elves 2 0
10.636 Sumsion Corbett. Two Andantes ... 2 0
PIANO
10.637 Bainton, Edgar L. Deux Morceaux :
(a) The Pool of Rushes ; (b) The
Enchanted Woods ... ... ... 2 0
10.638 Carse, Adam. A Bunch of Keys (12
Easy Pieces in Easy Keys) ... ... 2 0
10.639 Fly, Leslie. Scotland's Story (12
Characteristic Miniatures) ... ... 2 0
Geehl, Henry. Valse Elegante ... 2 0
Howells, Herbert. A Sailor Tune ... 2 0
Rebikoff. Autumn Thoughts, Book II
(Eight Short Pieces), Op. 8 2 8
Schioler, Victor. Swedish Polska
(Folk-Dance) 2 0
Weelkes, Thomas. Galliard (edited by
Harold Craxton) 2 0
Donaldson, W. You're driving Me
Crazy ! Song Fox-Trot ... ... 2 0
Myers, S. Cupid on the Cake, Novelty
Song Fox-Trot 2 0
Weston, H. We must all pull together !
(from " Arcadian Follies "), Song
Fox-Trot 2 0
King, R. Moonlight on the Colorado,
Song Waltz 2 0
10,640
10,641
10,642
DANCE
10,645
SONGS
10,649 Arne, T.
C— F1
When Daisies Pied, F :
PAGE
74
BEACON
10.650 Halle. The Arrow and the Song, 13 flat :
D E1
10.651 Bridge, Frank. Come to me in my
dreams, D flat ; C- E1
10.652 Coates, John. The Rally-Call. D;
D— Dl "
10.653 Gourley, Konald. Crossed in l.ove,
F; C sharp— Fl
l(»,fi.".+ Hely-Hutchinson, Victor. Three
Nonsense Songs : 1. The Owl and
the Pussv-cat ; 2. The Table and
the Chair : 3. The Duck and the
Kangaroo : Medium Voice ; C — F1
10,655 Johnson, Rosamond (arr. by). Lit'le
David plav on yo' harp (Negro
Spiritual), G ; D— G1
MM>r>(i .Mackenzie, A. C. Lift my Spirit up to
Thee, B flat ; F— G1
10.657 Mortclmans. I. The Angelus, C :
l>— F1
10.658 O'Hara, G. The Living God ! (Sacred),
F; F— F1
MUSICAL MONOLOGUE
10,050 Wood, A. II. The Man with a Single
EXAMINATION PAPERS
10.000 Associated Board of the Royal Academy
and Royal College of Music, "School"
Examination (Syllabus B), Papers
set in Harmony and Grammar of
Music (1029) ..."
10.001 " Local Centre " Examination (Syl-
labus A), Papers set in Rudiments
of Music and Harmony (1920)
10.002 Royal Academy of Music. Three
General Musicianship Papers for the
Licentiateship Examination (Septem-
ber. 1020 -Easter, 1930)
BRAILLE BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire
per vol.
9,634 9,637 Arrow of Gold, The, by Joseph s. d.
Conrad. Grade 2, Large size. Tnter-
pointed, Paper Covers. 4 vols.
F. 238 ti 0
0,07s 9,680 Astonishing History of Troy Town,
The, by Sir A. T. Quiller-Couch.
tirade 2, Large size, 'Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 3 vols. F. 168 ... 5 9
10,108 10. 109 Berridge House Receipt Book.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Cloth Boards, 2 vols. G. 136 ... 8 6
9,512 Bridge of San Luis Rey, The, by Thornton
Niven Wilder. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Cloth Boards. G. 72 8 9
9,681 9,684 Captain Margaret, by John Mase-
field. Grade 2, Large size, Inter
pointed. Paper Covers, 4 vols. F. 242 6 0
10,532 Concise Music Dictionary, compiled by
E. Watson. Grade 2, Pocket size.
Interpointed, Pamphlet. C. 18 ... 1 9
8,90o 1 >anvers Jewels, The, by Mary Cholmon-
delay. Grade 2, Large size. Inter
pointed, Cloth Boards. G, 70 ... 0 (i
0.01 I 9,615 Flight of the Heron, The, by D. K
Broster, Grade 2, Large size, Inter
pointed, Paper Covers. 5 vols
F. 295 (i 0
8,957-8,958 George Meredith, by J. B. Priestley.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Cloth Boards, 2 vols. G. 136 ... 8 6
9,630 9,633 Greenery Street, by Denis Mac Kail
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed.
Paper Covers, 4 vols F. 223 ... 5 9
/>,'. Vi I.
9,507-9,509 Havoc, by H. Phillips Oppenheim, s d
Grade 2. Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 3 vols. F. 196 ... 0 6
9,625 1 Ioney Bee, by Anatole France. Grade 2.
Large size. Interpointed. Paper
Covers. F. 40 ... ... ... ."> (>
9,510 '■> "ill Instrument of Destiny. The, bj
J. D. Beresford Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed. Paper Covers.
2 vols. F. 115 a 0
9,750 !• 7.">2 Keeping up Appearances, by Rose
Macaulay, Grade 2, Large size.
Interpointed. Paper Covers, 3 vols.
F. 185 6 3
0,747 9,749 My Lady ot the Moor, by John
Oxenham Grade 2. Large size.
Interpointed. Paper Covers, 3 vols.
E. 158 r. 0
9,619-0,622 Passage in Park Lane, The, by
J. de la Mare Rowley. Grade 2,
Large size, Interpointed, Paper
Covers, 4 vols. E. 255 ... ... ti 3
in. 17 I Poems of Childhood, by Githa Sowerby
Grade 2, Pocket size, Interlined,
Pamphlet C. 10 1 0
9,588-9,590 Poor Gentleman, The, by Ian Hay
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers. 3 vols. E. 154 ... ."> 3
9,719-0,723 Shakespeare Criticism. Grade 2,
Large size, Interpointed, Paper
Covers, 5 vols. F. 281 :> 0
9,616 9,618 Silent Handicap, A, by Ann
Denman. Grade 2, Large Size,
Interpointed. Paper Covers, 3 vols
F. 10(1 (i 3
9,507 0,599 Some Experiences of an Irish R.M.
by E.O.E. Somerville & Martin
Ross. Grade 2. Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 3 vols. F. 170 '■> 9
0,522 -0,r>28 Sylvia's Lovers, by Mrs. Gaskell.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 7 vols. F. 409 5 0
MOON BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications arc subject
to a reduction of two-thirds tor the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per set net .
3,09(1 Moon Made Easy, by Hilda Bradlield. .•>. d .
Specially red need price of ... ... I 0
The contents can also be supplied separately
as follows :- Net. d.
Suggestions for Teachers (Letter-
press Leaflet) ... ... ... ... 1
Alphabet Card with Contractions ... 1
Finger Exercise Card ... ... 1
Graduated Exercises Nos. 1- Hi ... 3
Life of Dr. Moon (Wide Line
Reader) ... ... ... ... 5
Envelope to hold the above ... I
3,00) Moon Letter Blocks. Giant siz
e. 24
Characters and Numerals ...
per set t;
NATIONAL INSTITUTE STUDENTS'
LIBRARY.
ADDITIONS.
CLASSICS.
vols.
Homer ; Odysscv ...
14
dictionary:
Larousse, Nouvcau
20
EDUCATION.
■ Steiner, K. Lectures to Teachers
1
ENGLISH LITERATURE.
Smith, L. Pearsall : Words and Idioms
3
ESSAYS AND BELLES LETTRES.
Alpha of the Plough 'Seen.! Series)
-
PAGE
75
BEACON
LAW.
vols.
Wills and Oliver : Roman 1 .1
v (192!)
Ed
tion)
Edited by J. W, C. Turner
6
MISCELLANEOUS.
Fleg, E. Life of Moses
3
Guerber, E. Myths of the Middle Age
s
-1
POETRY AND DRAMA.
Masefield, J. Right Royal.
l
Mew, Charlotte. The Farmer'
Bride
ind
othei
Poems
l
POLITICAL SCIENCE.
Jenks, E. History of Politics
::
SCIENCE.
Green E., and Potter, E. A.
Biolog\
1>\
Dis-
covery
4
Redmaync, Sir R. Fuel ...
I
THEOLOGY AND RELIGIONS.
Rethune-Baker, J. F. Faith
of tile
Ap
.stles
Creed
•>
Hcrold, A. F. Life of Buddha
•>
Watson, E. \Y. Church of England
-
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND.
ADDITIONS FEBRUARY, 1931.
FICTION. vols.
Baring, Maurice. Coat without seam ... ... 5
Benson, Stella. Pipers and a Dancer ... ... 2
Bowen, Marjorie. Sheep's-head and Babylon.
and Other Stories of Yesterday and To-day 6
Connington, j. J. Murder in the Maze ... 4
Connington, J. J. Nemesis at Raynham Parva 6
Dunsany, Lord. " Blessing of Pan " ... ... 3
Greene, G. Man within ... ... ... ... 4
Hamilton, Lord Frederic. P j.. the Secret
Service Bov ... ... ... ... ... 4
Munthe, Axel. The Story of San Michele ... 7
Phillpotts. Eden. Cherry Gambol and Other
Stories ... ... ... ... ... ... 4
Roberts, Cecil. Pamela's Spring Song ... ... 5
Stern, G. B. Petruchio 3
Walpole, Hugh. Hans Frost 5
Wharton, Edith. Age of Innocence ... ... 5
Wharton. Edith. Hudson River Bracketed ... 8
Williamson, H. Beautiful Years ... ... 4
MISCELLANEOUS.
Baring, The Hon. Yenetia. Deafness and
Happiness ... ... ... ... ... 1
Benn, J. P. Confessions of a Capitalist (E. W.
Austin Memorial) ... ... ... ... 4
Blyton, W. J. Law of Self-sacrifice in Nature.
Man and God. (Affirmation Series) ... ... 1
Boyd, A. K. H. Some Graver Thoughts of a
Country Parson ... ... ... ... ]
A Buchanan, A. C. Place called Gethsemane ... 1
Collier, John. Religion of an Artist ... ... 1
Deane, A. C. Canon. How to understand the
Gospels ... ... ... ... ... ... 2
Gibbs, Sir P. Romance of Empire ... ... 9
Grensted, L. W. Making of Character. (Affirm-
ation Series) ... ... ... ... ... 1
Hammond, J. L., and B. Rise of Modern
Industry. (E. W. Austin Memorial) ... ... 5
"Janitor.'' Pulpits and Personalities. (Survey
of some leading London Churches) ... ... 2
Knox, E. V. Wonderful Outings. (From
"Punch") 2
Lacy, T. A. Sectarianism (Affirmation Series) 1
Lofthouse, W. F. Hebrew View of Evil.
(Affirmation Series) ... ... ... ... ]
Lucas, E. V7. Traveller's Luck. Essays and
Fantasies ... ... ... ... ... 2
^•McCormick, W. P. G. Be of Good Cheer ... 2
^Masterman, C. F. G. Frederick Denison
Maurice ... ... ... ... ... ... 3
f Presented by the Guild of Church Braillists.
i Produced by the National Institute for the Blind.
Middleton, S11 T. Co-operation in Rural Life.
(From Social Service Review " October,
1930) 1
Newman. E. Wagner. (Music of the Masters)
(E. W. Austin Memorial) ... ... ... 3
1 Priestley, J. B. George Meredith (English
Men of Letters) 2
Sandburg. C. Abraham Lincoln ; The Prairie
Years ... ... ... 16
Sykes, J. Mary Anne Disraeli ... ... ... 2
Webb, Mary. Poems and the Spring of Joy ... 2
Weigall, A. Ancient Egypt. (Benn's Sixpenny
library) ... ... ... ... ... ... 2
Weigall, A. Flights into Antiquity ... ... 3
Wilson, Barbara. House of Memories ... ... 2
Wilson, J. M. God is Love- Can this be true ?
(Affirmation Series) ... ... ... ... 1
JUVENILE.
Broomhall, M. Hudson Taylor the Man who
dared ... ... ... ... ... ... I
Cutler, U. W. Stories of King Arthur and his
Knights ... ... ... ... ... ... 3
Line upon Line Parts 1 and 2 ... ... ... 5
Pool, Millicent. Timothy, the Miller's Son ... 1
GRADE I.
Rea, Lorna. Six Mrs. Greenes ... ... ... 4
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CITY OF WAKEFIELD.
BLIND PERSONS ACT, 1920.
Applications are invited for the position of Male
Secretary to administer the Council's Scheme for the
Welfare of the Blind. Applicants must be thoroughly
experienced in the work and not older than 35 years.
Salary on scale rising from £230 to £260 per annum.
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A MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF THE BLIND
Vol. XV.-No. 172.
Entered as Second Class
APRIL 15th, 1931
Price 3d.
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1S79 {Sec. 397, P.L. and R.
THE WELFARE OF THE BLIND
T
NINTH REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
HERE are few documents more valuable in giving an outline of the position of
blind welfare in this country than the Reports of the Advisory Committee.
The ninth Report (for 1930) has just been issued, and is obtainable from H.M.
Stationery Office, Adastral House, Kingsway, W.C., price 6d.
The matters under discussion are dealt with under fifteen headings, and
a brief summary of these may be given.
Blind Persons Act.
It is stated that 19,048 persons between the ages of 50 and 70 ^or 87 per cent, of the total
number of such persons) are in receipt of blind pensions, an increase of 1,532 over the figures
for 1929, and of 11,222 over the first recorded figures for the year ending March, 1921.
Attention is called to two familiar " hard cases " under the Act, the first being that of a blind
person who has been in receipt of both contributory and blind pensions between the ages of
65 and 70, and loses the pension granted on account of his blindness at 70. The fact that he has
been fortunate enough to draw two pensions for five years is but cold comfort when the sudden
reduction of income comes, but the Committee is of opinion that the remedy lies not in
amended legislation, but in more widespread adoption of local schemes for assisting the
unemployable blind. The other case is that in which a blind claimant who is married cannot
draw the full pension on account of the earnings of a seeing partner, and it is pointed out that
such a case is specially hard where a wife goes out to work to help support herself and a blind
husband. In such cases amended legislation is recommended, which shall either treat blind
claimants for pension as single persons, or extend the present allowance of £39 unearned
income to income that is earned.
Grants for the Welfare of the Blind.
In the year 1929-30 a sum of £131,368 was distributed by the Ministry of Health for
services on behalf of the blind provided by voluntary associations and local authorities, being
an increase of £5,339 on the previous year. It is pointed out that the rate of expansion on the
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employment services in workshops or under
Home Workers' schemes appears to be
slowing down, but we are reminded that there
are still many blind persons in training who
will have to be absorbed in industry during
the next few years. An interesting suggestion
is made that the provision of small Cottage
Homes might meet a need among the aged
and lonely blind, many of whom are leading
very uncared-for lives. The Report notes
regretfully that in future under the new
block-grant arrangements it will not be
possible to gain quite such a comprehensive
view of the comparative development of
various services, and expresses the hope that
the local authorities will still endeavour to
" preserve a proper balance of benefits as
between one class of blind and another."
Local Government Act, 1928.
The Report proceeds to discuss at some
length the working of the Local Government
Act, and points out that the voluntary associ-
ations may suffer in some areas if additional
contributions are not made in respect of
developments since the standard year (1928-
1929).
While it is felt to be too early to say any-
thing of the effect of the new system of grants
on the voluntary associations, the hope is
expressed that the local authorities will make
every effort to retain the services of voluntary
workers who have, through years of personal
interest in the welfare of the blind, acquired
experience that is most valuable.
The detailed supervision exercised in the
past by the Ministry of Health through its
Inspectors has now ceased, but it is hoped
that the . local authorities throughout the
country will consider the possibility of
combining together to appoint officers in a
position to give expert advice on the conduct
of services to the blind especially where
technical knowledge is essential.
Registration and Certification of the Blind.
The last official statistics available give the
number of registered blind persons as 52,727
on March 31st, 1929; according to the
Registers of County Associations the number
a year later was 56,853, an increase of 4,126.
While such an increase is probably due less
to an actually increasing number of blind
perspris than to improved registration, the
Committee points out that the figure is one
high enough to give considerable cause for
concern, and notes with satisfaction the
PAGE
78
formation of a Sub-Committee of the Union
of Counties Associations to consider the
causes and prevention of blindness. Once
more, too, the Committee emphasises the
importance of careful medical examination
before registration and calls attention to the
Minister's circular urging local authorities to
accept certificates only from practitioners
with ophthalmological experience.
Education and Training.
Attached to the Report is a valuable
memorandum on the maintenance of the
blind in schools and training institutions
drawn up by the Board of Education and the
Ministry of Health at the special request of
the Advisory Committee, and dealing in
detail with the position of children under 16,
and persons over 16, whether in the charge
of the Poor Law authority or not. Local
authorities who have not yet declared their
readiness to give all education and training
through the Education authority and not by
way of Poor Relief are urged to do so.
Domestic Training.
The Committee emphasises the importance
of domestic training for all blind and partially
blind girls, as part of the normal, school
curriculum, in order that they may be fitted
for the domestic duties of the home, and
notes with approval the action of the Manches-
ter Education Committee in providing special
Cookery Classes for the Blind.
Employment.
A Table is given from material supplied by
the Counties Associations, showing the num-
ber of employed persons, varying in different
areas from 14 to 21 per cent. Of these less
than half are in Workshops or under Home
Workers' schemes, and it is suggested that
many of the rest are probably only casually
or partially employed and " should more
properly be classified as pastime workers."
The reader of the Report cannot but feel that
when every allowance is made for old age and
physical infirmity and for the fact that women
who are employed in domestic duties at home
are curiously classified as " unemployable,"
the very small percentage of the employed
blind is rather disquieting.
Central Marketing Board.
The Association of Workshops is com-
mended for its enterprise in framing a
constitution for such a Board, and all Work-
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shops are urged to participate in the scheme,
and to help forward so hopeful a project.
Home Workers.
The qualification laid down by the Ministry
of Health that grant could only be payable to
a Home Worker engaged on an " occupation
usually practised in Workshops " has in the
opinion of the Committee rather unduly
restricted the scope of the scheme in the past,
but it is now open to local authorities to
reconsider the position and to recognise any
occupation which is on the plane of industrial
effort, and which can under the supervision
of the Association concerned " render tangible
and continuing service to the home workers."
Insurance of Home Workers under the
National Health Insurance Acts.
Hitherto Home Workers who purchased
their own materials and were free to sell to
any willing buyer the goods they made have
not been liable to be insured, though Home
Workers who received work from a voluntary
association and returned it to them to be
marketed were regarded as out-workers and
thus should be compulsorily insured. The
Committee has considered whether there
should be more uniformity with regard to the
insurance of Home Workers, but without
further evidence feels unable to pass judgment
in the matter, and has therefore referred it to
the Association of Workshops, which has been
asked to report.
Placement and Research.
The Report discusses the first Bulletin on
Placement and Research issued by the
National Institute for the Blind, and recom-
mends that the Institute should invite the
larger Institutions, the seven Counties
Associations and the Union of Counties
Associations to explore the possibilities and
limitations of finding employment for the
blind in ordinary factories as thoroughly as
possible.
Unemployable Blind.
In July, 1929, it was reported that 60 local
authorities had adopted a scale for the
assistance of the unemployable blind and
since then 20 have been added to the number,
of whom 32 have agreed that domiciliary
assistance to the blind shall be given by virtue
of the Blind Persons Act and not through the
Poor Law. Institutional assistance must in
most cases remain for the present a matter
for the Poor Law to deal with for obvious
reasons of economy.
Ordinary Residence within the Meaning of
the Blind Persons Act, 1920.
While the term " ordinarily resident " as
used in the Blind Persons Act, has apparently
never been legally defined, the Minister of
Health has stated that he is of opinion that
if a blind person moves into an area for the
purpose of living there he can be regarded as
becoming ordinarily resident in it. A
difficulty, however, has arisen in that there
is a natural tendency for blind persons to
move into areas where the scale of relief for
the unemployables is most substantial, but
it is a difficulty that the Advisory Committee
does not feel able to suggest any remedy for
at present, in view of a Departmental Memor-
andum on the subject, which is given as an
Appendix to the Report, and which local
authorities and voluntary associations are
advised to study.
Travelling Facilities.
The travelling facilities granted by the
railways to blind persons on business have
proved a most valuable concession, and it is
regretted that the omnibus services associated
with the Railway Companies are not within
the jurisdiction of the latter, and therefore
the privilege cannot be extended to them,
unless by local application to individual
omnibus companies.
American Conference, and Changes in
Committee.
The Report closes with a sympathetic
reference to the New York Conference, with
notes on changes in the personnel of the
Committee and an appreciative record of
the services rendered by its Secretary, Mr.
Chapman, of the Ministry of Health, in whom
the blind " have a devoted friend."
DIARY OF EVENTS.
Notices of Annual Meetings and important Committee
meetings are inserted in The New Beacon as space
permits. Secretaries are requested to send intimations
to the Editor not later than the 3rd of the month for
insertion in the next issue.
April 22nd. 2.30. NIB. Education and Research
Committee.
May 1st. 2.30 N.I.B. Finance Committee.
May 5th-7th. College of Teachers of the Blind ; Home
Teachers' Examination — London, Liverpool, Edin-
burgh.
May 6th. 2.30. NIB. Home Industries Advisory
Committee.
May 18th. Official opening of Sunshine House, East
Grinstead, by Lady Adelaide Colville.
May 19th 20th. College of Teachers of the Blind ;
School Teachers' Examination — London.
PAGE
79
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HOME NEWS
The Duchess of York Patron of the Greater London Fund for the Blind.
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of York has graciously consented to become a
patron of the Greater London Fund for the Blind. The announcement was made by
Capt. Sir Beachcroft Towse, V.C., at a Reception given in the New Burlington Gallery
to welcome Geranium Day Collectors and other helpers of the blind. Geranium Day
this year is being held on the 12th May.
Flag Days for Blind Babies' Homes.
Flag Days in aid of the Blind Babies' Homes of the National Institute for the Blind
are being held as follows : —
Saturday, 19th September — All Metropolitan Boroughs, except the five noted
below.
September 22nd — Westminster, Marylebone, Holborn and Kensington.
September 27th — Stepney.
South Shields Blind Appreciate Wireless Fund.
We have received a letter from the Secretary of the South Shields Institution for
the Blind, asking us to express to the promoters of the British Wireless for the Blind Fund
the thanks of the South Shields blind for the gift of 62 one-valve wireless sets which they
have just received. At the last of the series of winter concerts arranged for the blind,
Mr. Cooper, a member of the South Shields Institution, formally moved a vote of thanks
to the Fund, saying that the gifts would bring new happiness to the homes of the blind.
Eisteddfod Competitions for the Blind.
In connection with the Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales to be held in Bangor
in August next there are a number of competitions confined to the blind, including
basketry, mat and rug work, hand and machine knitting, Braille, etc. A list of subjects
can be had from Messrs. Hughes & Son, Wrexham, is. 3d. per post. Entry forms can
be had from the General Secretary of the Eisteddfod, Town Hall, Bangor, North Wales,
and must be sent in by May ist-ioth. Work for competition to be in hand by July 1st.
Nos. 173 to 193 inclusive are confined to the blind.
Satisfactory Results at Yorkshire School for the Blind.
Last month Lady Hamilton distributed prizes at the Yorkshire School for the Blind.
Colonel W. A. White presided.
The Rev. C. F. Hardy, Principal of the School, read a report from the Board of
Education, which stated that the Board were glad to learn therefrom that the domestic,
educational, and medical arrangements were very satisfactory. The report made special
mention of the healthy appearance of the children, and of their eagerness of response,
which testified to the care bestowed on their physical welfare and the development of
their intellectual powers. The educational curriculum was of wide and varied interest,
but could be improved on the practical side by the inclusion of domestic science for the
girls.
Mr. R. Elton Laing, Headmaster of the School, presented his report, which stated
that there were 77 pupils in residence ; 46 boys and 31 girls. During the school year
13 pupils had left, and 15 had been admitted. It was satisfactory to note that 60 per
cent, of the boys could swim. At an examination held by the London and City Guilds
four pupils entered for basket work and had been successful. Pupils also gained music
successes. At the Yorkshire Choral and Instrumental Competitions Olive Stead took first
place and gained a first-class certificate for piano solo for competitors under the age of 14.
This was the second year in succession that a pupil obtained such a success. At the
Trinity College Examinations six pupils were entered and passed, three with honours,
PAGE
80
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Worthing Society Opens Shop for Goods Made by Local'Blind.
The Worthing Society for Befriending the Blind has opened a shop, for the sale of
goods made by the blind, at 2, Victoria Buildings, York Road, Worthing.
Civic Recognition of Work of Mr. and Mrs. E. Crew for Leicester Blind.
Leicester City Council have adopted a resolution of the General Purposes Com-
mittee " That the Council present a framed illuminated address to Mr. Edwin Crew,
expressing their appreciation of his services as president and joint founder of the Wycliffe
Society for Helping the Blind, and as founder and honorary manager of the Wycliffe
Cottage Homes and Hostel, and of the large amount of time and energy he has devoted
to the general welfare of the blind of the city for a period of nearly 40 years." In adopting
the resolution, the name of Mrs. Crew was added for her loyal co-operation with her
husband in all his work.
Reorganisation of Blind Welfare Work in Staffordshire.
With a view to unification and reorganisation of the work amongst the blind, the
Staffordshire County Council have decided that from April 1st, 193 1, the duties in the
northern portion of the County Administrative Area, shall be undertaken by the Stafford-
shire Association for the Welfare of the Blind, of which the Chairman is Mr. Alfred
Lathe, C.C., and the County Secretary Mrs. Barton Land, of Ingleneuk, Uttoxeter.
For some years this work has been deputed to the Stoke-on-Trent and North Staf-
fordshire Committee for the Care of the Blind, who have received considerable help,
both monetary and in service, from sympathisers in the county area. It is hoped that,
as all efforts are for the benefit of the local blind, the public will continue to give their
sympathetic help.
Dogs for the Blind to be Trained at Wallasey.
A movement to supply dog guides to the blind of this country has been under con-
sideration for many months, and the National Institute for the Blind has decided to accept
the affiliation of a special fund for training the animals. An experimental school will
be opened at Wallasey immediately. This school will be in charge of technical instructors
supplied by " L'Oeil qui Voit " (" The Seeing Eye "), an organisation with headquarters
in Switzerland, which has already been described in The New Beacon. If the experiment
proves successful, the school will be put on a permanent basis and the number of dog
students increased. It has been decided that the experiments at Wallasey shall be carried
out on dogs actually bred in this country, and four Alsatians and two Scotch collies have
been obtained for the purpose. Each of these will be educated with its future master,
for, as the owner of such an animal also needs instruction, man and dog must go to
school together.
"E. W. Austin" Memorial Reading Competition.
The Tenth Annual Reading Competition was held on March 14th, at the National
Library for the Blind, Westminster. A record number of candidates had entered —
ninety-three — including readers from as far afield as Northampton, Swansea, Carlisle
and Sunderland. The preliminary testings in the morning resulted in sixteen candidates
being selected to read the difficult passages in the Finals to Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson,
Professor Gilbert Murray, and the Very Rev. the Dean of Winchester, who most kindly
acted as judges.
An Open Event for the reading of unseen passages from Shakespeare was this year
inaugurated at the special request of some of the candidates. Everybody was eligible for
this, including winners of previous Competitions. Mr. Bassett Roe came to the Library
in the morning to hear the preliminary readings of the candidates for this event.
Professor Gilbert Murray announced the names of the winners, and Sir Johnston
Forbes-Robertson testified to the excellence of the reading, congratulating the com-
petitors on the ease and fluency with which they had tackled the passages, which, as he said,
he would have been very sorry to have had to read without any preparation.
PAGE
81
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The first prize in the Shakespeare Event was awarded to Miss Jameson for her very
beautiful rendering of Cranmer's Speech from Henry VIII, Act V, Scene V. The second
and third prizes were won by Mr. Sharp and Mr. Oke.
The " Blanesburgh " Cup and first prize in Class A were awarded to Mr. Lloyd,
of Swansea, who read a passage from " The Vicar of Wakefield," and " The Rover," by
Sir Walter Scott. Mr. Sharp was awarded the second prize and Miss Ivens the third.
In Class B, Mr. Gates, of the Royal Normal College, won the first prize for his
reading of an extract from Priestley's " English Humour," and " To a Pair of Egyptian
Slippers," by Sir Edwin Arnold, the second and third prizes being won by Miss Jean
Hewlett, of the Royal Normal College, and Miss Beadley.
The Juniors were divided into four Classes : — Senior Juniors : 13-16 years ; 11-13
years ; Juniors : 9- 11 years ; under nine years ; and prizes were awarded as follows : —
Senior Juniors (13-16) : — 1 — Marie Dimtchenko, Swiss Cottage School ; 2 — Ronald
Cottingham, Royal Normal College ; Runner-up — Joyce Middleton, East London
School.
Senior Juniors (11-13): — 1 — Rose Pilgrim, Enfield Road, L.C.C. School; 2 —
Ronald Randall, East London School ; Runner-up — Jean Hall, Royal Normal College.
Juniors (9-1 1) : — 1 — Arthur Wright, Swiss Cottage School; 2 — Joan Woodcraft,
Elm Court L.C.C. School ; Runner-up— Robert O'Borne, Enfield Road L.C.C. School.
Juniors (under 9) : — 1 — Muriel Easter, Royal Normal College ; Runner-up — Mary
Theobald, Swiss Cottage School.
Sir Frederick Thomson, who had very kindly consented to act as Chairman in the
place of Lord Blanesburgh, who had been called to Paris, presented the prizes, to which
Dr. Oswald Fergus had added a box of chocolates for each of the successful Juniors.
The Chairman congratulated each prize-winner on the wonderful facility with which
the unseen passages had been read, expressing the keen enjoyment which the reading
had given to all present.
Mr. Sharp proposed a vote of thanks in which he included the Chairman, the Judges,
both morning and afternoon, Mr. Walter Dixson, the founder of the Competition, and
the staff of the Library. This was seconded by Mr. Oke.
Braille Reading Competition — Northern Branch National Library.
The Ninth Annual Reading Competition of the Northern Branch was held on 14th
March, 1931, at the National Library for the Blind, 5, St. John Street, Manchester. In
view of the record number of 86 entries preliminary testings were held in the morning
in each of the four sections, by Mrs. Stanley Jast, Miss Gladys Conway, Miss M. Hughes,
and Dr. Christine Arscott, who had kindly consented to act as judges. This resulted in
a selection of 16 candidates for the afternoon's competition. Owing to the lack of space
in the library premises it was found necessary to arrange the final meeting in the Milton
Hall, where a large gathering of friends and competitors welcomed an opportunity of
listening to some excellent renderings of the passages chosen for the final tests. Three
of the judges made the awards which were announced by the Chairman, Dr. George
Murray, who expressed his personal enjoyment at the remarkable achievement of so
many candidates.
The first prize in the " Experts' " division was awarded to Mr. D. Kirkpatrick, of
Southport and Birmingham, whose melodious rendering of a passage from Swinburne
was a delight to the auditors. The second prize was won by Rev. E. Rowlands, of Dolgelly.
In Class II, Miss G. Clough, of Skipton-in-Craven, received the first prize and Miss
S. Davies, of Liverpool, the second.
In the Senior Juniors (16-21) John Duckworth, of Henshaw's Institution, Old
Trafford, Manchester, and George Avery, of Liverpool, were the recipients of the first
and second prizes respectively, whilst in the Juniors' Class (10-16) the first prize was
gained by Mary Smith, of Burnley, the second by Wilfred Hickson, of Henshaw's Insti-
tution. A special prize of a box of chocolates was given to Phyllis Armstrong, of Bolton
(10), the youngest competitor, whose rendering of a passage from'E. V. Lucas's " Out
PAGE
82
BEACON
of a Clear Sky " was much appreciated. A box of chocolates was also awarded to Nellie
Glendenning whose reading in Class III (Senior Juniors) was especially distinguished.
Perhaps the most striking achievement was the reading of Miss E. Mitchell, of Hull,
a candidate who was both blind and deaf, and to whom a special prize was awarded. All
present marvelled at her sympathetic interpretation of Gerald Gould's " Wanderthirst."
Lady Mabel Smith distributed the prizes, and after congratulating each prizewinner,
gave a brief address on " Books as friends," emphasising in a few appropriate sentences
the important part which books take in the life of the blind, and urging the competitors
to make friends with the authors whose books they enjoyed.
Mrs. Eastwood then proposed a vote of thanks to Lady Mabel Smith, expressing
the audience's appreciation of her interest in the competition ; this Mr. Jast seconded.
Mr. H. P. Turner proposed a vote of thanks to the judges and the staff, this being
seconded by Mr. Siddall.
Tea was provided for the competitors and their friends, an enjoyable day being
rounded off by music and songs.
Result of Young Blind Music Students' Competition.
Two prizes, of £5 5s. and £/[ 4s. respectively, have been awarded in the above
Competition, organised by the National Institute for the Blind.
The Adjudicator, Mr. William Wolstenholme, Mus.Bac, F.R.C.O., wrote : —
" The two works are really quite good, and the young musicians are to be
complimented and should be encouraged. They have my very good wishes.
" The Part-Song for Male Voices — ' Gather ye Rosebuds ' is a well- written
work, singable and musicianly. The changes of Key come naturally, and the
four voice parts are well laid out. I give it first place.
" The ' Diversion for Violin and Pianoforte ' also shows good writing, both
for solo instrument and in the Pianoforte part, and is altogether a good effort in
modern vein."
The successful competitors are Mr. John Edward Robinson, (nom de plume " Harvey
Spring ") and Mr. Charles Edwin Gates, (" J. Sariph ").
In congratulating them, we would express the hope that they will be stimulated
by this early success to apply themselves still more assiduously to the study of serious
composition, thereby justifying the aim of the Competition, i.e. — " The discovery and
encouragement of talent for Musical Composition in young blind students."
WORLD CONFERENCE AT NEW YORK
Programme.
TUESDAY, APRIL 14th.
Chairman : Mr. E. M.
Rapporteur
TOPIC : EDUCATION. 9
Van Cleve, Prin., N.Y. Institute for the Education of the Blind.
Miss M. M. R. Caraway, College of Teachers, England.
-1 p.m.
Dr. Siegfried Altmann, Director, Israelitisches Blinden-Institut,
Vienna, Austria.
Mr. Donatien Lelievre, Director, Institution Regionale des Sourds-
Muets et Jeunes Aveugles, Bordeaux, France.
Mr. Paul Grasemann, Director, Provinzial-blindenanstalt, Soest-
Westfalen, Germany.
Syndikus Dr. Carl Strehl, Leiter der Blinden-studienanstalt,
Marburg-Lahn, Germany.
Prof. Augusto Romagnoli, Direttore della R. Scuola di Metodo per
Gli Educatori dei Ciechi, Rome, Italy.
Mr. Halfdan Karterud, Dalens Blindeskole, Nidaros, Norway.
The First Steps in Education of the Blind
Child.
The General Education and Vocational
Training of the Blind Child.
The General Education and Vocational
Training of the Blind Child.
Higher Education for the Blind and
Occupations Open to Them.
The Training of Teachers of the Blind.
The Special Psychology of the Blind.
8 p.m. — 10 p.m.
ROUND TABLES.
Ways and Means in Planning School Activities.
Organizer : Mr. J. T. Hooper, Supt., Wisconsin School for the Blind.
Purposes in Education. For Life and for a Living.
Organizer : Dr. O. H. Burritt, Principal, Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind,
Philadelphia.
PAGE
83
BEACON
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15th. TOPIC : EMPLOYMENT. 9 a.m.- 1 p.m.
Chairman : Mr. S. Merwyn Sinclair, Executive Director, State Council for the Blind, Pennsylvania.
Capt. E. A. Baker, General Secretary and Mr. J. F. Clunk, National
Supervisor of Industrial Employment, Canadian National Insti-
tute for the Blind, Toronto, Canada.
Mr. Ernst Retsler, De Blindas Forening, Stockholm, Sweden.
Mr. S. W. Starling, Manager, Birmingham Royal Institution for
the Blind, England.
Prof. Pierre Villey, Secretary-General, Association Valentin Hauy,
France.
Mr. George Danby, General Manager, Royal Glasgow Asylum for
the Blind, Scotland.
Comm. Dott. Aurelio Nicolodi, Unione Italiana dei Ciechi, Florence,
Italy.
Mrs. Harrison Eustis, The Seeing Eye, Mont Pelerin, Switzerland.
Employment of the Blind on Work for
which Sight was Formerly Considered
Essential.
Home Occupations for the Blind.
Workshop Occupations.
Music as a Profession and Occupation for
the Blind.
Workshop Management.
Economic Position of the Blind.
Dog Guides.
ROUND TABLES. 8 p.m.— 10 p.m.
Mr. Peter J. Salmon, Business Manager, Industrial Home for the
Blind, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mr. H. R. Latimer, Executive Secretary, Pennsylvania Association
for the Blind, Pittsburgh.
Miss Kate M. Foley, Home Teacher, San Francisco, California.
THURSDAY, APRIL 16th. TOPIC: TECHNICAL AIDS AND PROVISIONS. 9 a.m.— 1 p.m.
Chairman : Mr. A. C. Ellis, Superintendent, American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, Kentucky.
L. Raverat, Secretary General, American Braille Press, Paris.
1. Workshops.
2. Outside Occupations
3. Home Teaching.
Organizer
Organizer
Organizer
Rapporteur : Mr. G.
Dr. W. Dolanski, Warsaw, Poland.
Dr. E. E. Allen, Director, Perkins Institution, Watertown, Massa-
chusetts, U.S.A.
Miss L. A. Goldthwaite, New York Public Library, U.S.A.
Mr. Frank C. Bryan, Howe Memorial Press Fund, Watertown,
Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Mr. J. Ulises Godino, Director, Instituto Nacional de Ciegos, Buenos
Aires, Argentine.
Apparatus and Appliances for the Blind.
Museums for the Blind.
Libraries for the Blind.
Printing for the Blind .
Co-operation in Printing for the Blind in
South America.
6. Mr. U. Akiba, President, Tokyo School for the Blind, Tokyo. Japan.
7. Mr. G. B. Fryer, Superintendent, Institution for the Chinese Blind,
Shanghai, China.
The Condition of the Blind in Japan.
Missions and the Blind in Asiatic Coun-
tries.
1. Printing and Appliances.
2. Libraries and Museums.
3. Music.
ROUND TABLES. 8 p.m.— 10 p.m.
Organizer : Mr. G. F. Meyer, Supervisor, Classes for the Blind, Minneapolis,
Minnesota.
Organizer : Mrs. Liborio Delfino, Free Library of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Organizer : Mr. L. W. Rodenberg, Illinois School for the Blind, Jacksonville,
Illinois.
SOCIAL SERVICES.
9 a.m. — 1 p.m.
Prevention and Sight-Saving Classes.
Causes and Prevention of Blindness.
FRIDAY, APRIL 17th. TOPIC
Chairman on PREVENTION :
1. Mrs. Winifred Hathaway, Secretary, National Society for the Pre-
vention of Blindness, New York.
2. Dr. Merida Nicolich, Director, Instituto Municipal para Ciegos,
Malaga, Spain.
Chairman on WELFARE, Etc. : Mr. Calvin S. Glover, Executive Secretary, Cincinnati Association for the Welfare
of the Blind, Cincinnati, Ohio.
1. Capt. Ian Fraser, C.B.E., Chairman, St. Dunstan's Headquarters,
London, England.
2. Dr. Lothar Gabler-Knibbe, Vorsitzender des Reichdeutschen
Blindenverbandes, Berlin, Germany.
3. Mr. P. Guinot, General Secretary, Federation Nationale des
Aveugles Civils, Paris.
4. Miss J. A. Merivale, Lnion of Counties Associations for the Blind,
England.
Rapporteur : Mr. W. McG. Eagar, Secretary General, National Institute for the Blind, London, England.
ROUND TABLES. 3 p.m.— 6 p.m.
Organizer : Mr. Lewis H. Carris, Managing Director, National Society for
the Prevention of Blindness.
Organizer : Mrs. Mary D. Campbell, Executive Director, Missouri Com-
mission for the Blind, St. Louis, Missouri.
Organizer : Mr. H. M. Immeln, Director, New York Association for the
Blind (Lighthouse), New York City.
Organizer : Miss Lydia Y. Hayes, Chief Executive, New Jersey Commis-
sion for the Blind, Newark, New Jersey.
Organizer : Mr. R. B. Irwin, Executive Director, American Foundation
for the Blind, New York City.
The State and the Blind Community.
Pensions for the Blind.
What the State Ought to Do for the
Blind.
Home Visiting and Home Teaching.
Prevention and Sight Saving
Pensions.
Social W'elfare.
The Deaf-Blind.
International Organization.
BEACON
SUPERVISION OF CHARITIES
Report of Home Office Departmental Committee.
A VERY enthusiastic friend of the
^L writer of this article talks
/ M a good deal about the
/ M " romance that is to be found
I m in the White Paper and the
/ ^ Blue Book."
_JL. Ml. Government publications
are a source of inspiration to
him, much more acceptable than the most
thrilling narratives of modern fiction. He
suggested that over the holiday period one
might do much worse than read again the
Report of the Home Office Departmental
Committee on the Supervision of Charities*.
Since this document has not been reviewed
previously in The New Beacon, it may be of
interest to some readers, even though the
reviewer may fail to capture that spirit of
romance which some very sanguine people
declare to be ever haunting the purlieus of
Whitehall.
The fact may be recalled that in April, 1925,
the then Home Secretary, Mr. Joynson-Hicks,
appointed an Interdepartmental Committee to
" consider and report whether any form of
supervision is desirable over collecting
charities." The composition of the Commit-
tee sets forth an imposing array of names,
though it is difficult, in a number of instances,
to reconcile such names with any knowledge
of the subject which they were called upon to
review. Probably a little knowledge was
dangerous, whilst great knowledge and still
greater experience were thought to be
undesirable. However, the composition of
the Committee was the choice of a Secretary
of State and those poor mortals who only
undertake the practical work are rarely, if
ever, consulted.
The Committee held 21 sittings and heard
25 witnesses representing the various Govern-
ment Departments concerned, the police, the
London County Council, religious bodies,
and societies connected with or engaged in
charitable work. In addition to taking oral
evidence from these witnesses (whose names
are appended to the report) the Committee
had before it memoranda from a large number
of representative Chief Constables and local
authorities and considered various statements
submitted to them by individual charities and
* Published by H.M. Stationery Office. Adastral
House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2. Price 9d.
by members of the general public. The
Editor of Truth was also good enough to let
the Committee see a file of extracts from that
journal relating to matters under inquiry.
It will be convenient before we proceed
further to set out briefly the main features of
the existing law and practice with regard to
charitable organisations, including, for the
moment, those charities which are not wholly
dependent upon funds derived by appeal to
the public.
Endowed Charities and partly endowed
charities.
The Charitable Trusts Act, 1853, provided
for the appointment of Commissioners (there
are now two paid Commissioners and one
unpaid Parliamentary Commissioner) whose
duties, as extended by the Charitable Trusts
Amendment Act, 1855, are : —
(a) to inquire into the administration of
charities ;
(b) to assist Trustees in developing the
property and in executing the trusts of
charities by supplementing their powers
where defective ;
(c) to control the action of the Trustees
of charities in dealing with the corpus of
endowments ;
(d) to control, facilitate, and diminish the
cost of legal proceedings taken on behalf of
charities.
By later Acts further powers were conferred
on the Charity Commissioners, including
some previously exercised exclusively by the
Court of Chancery. These powers enable them
(a) to make schemes for the improved
administration of charities ;
(b) to appoint and remove Trustees and
Officers of charities ;
(c) to secure the safe custody and due
investment of the property of charities by
means of vesting orders ;
(d) to incorporate in suitable cases the
Trustees of a charity.
The schemes can only be made when the
Trusts have wholly or partially failed, and
under the general law schemes must provide
for the application of the income cy-pres, i.e.
to purposes as similar as practicable to the
original objects. The Commissioners are not,
however, empowered in any case to undertake
the management of charities.
PAGE
85
BEACON
The Charitable Trusts Acts require the
Trustees of every Charity falling within the
jurisdiction of the Commissioners under those
Acts to furnish them with an account of the
income and expenditure of the charity during
each year, but they do not require the
Commissioners to audit those accounts.
The Commissioners' jurisdiction under the
Charitable Trusts Acts relates to endowed
charities only, i.e. to charities entitled to
property, real or personal, the capital of which
is settled upon permanent trusts, and the
income only of which is applicable for
charitable purposes. Charities solely sup-
ported by voluntary subscriptions or dona-
tions do not come within the Commissioners'
jurisdiction, and those which are supported
partly by subscriptions and partly by endow-
ment only come under their jurisdiction so far
as the endowments are concerned. On the
other hand, Trustees of charities exempt
from the Commissioners' jurisdiction may
apply to the Commissioners for an order
extending it to the charity concerned.
The Charitable Trusts Acts also constitute
certain officers of the Charity Commission to
be corporations under the names of the
Official Trustees of Charitable Funds and
the Official Trustee of Charity Lands for the
purpose of holding personalty and realty
belonging to charities. Complete adminis-
trative powers are left with the Charity
Trustees, so that by vesting stocks or land in
the Official Trustees or Trustee, a charity can
secure the advantages of incorporation.
The Commissioners' jurisdiction applies
to all charitable endowments whether ad-
ministered under Trust Deeds, Schemes,
Royal Charter, Act of Parliament or the
Companies Act.
Under the Board of Education Act, 1899,
and the orders in Council made thereunder,
the jurisdiction over endowed educational
charities formerly exercised by the Charity
Commissioners is now exercised by the
Board of Education.
Incorporation of Charities.
Companies (Consolidation) Act, 1908. —
Under the provisions of Section 20, of this
Act, the Board of Trade may by licence direct
that an association about to be formed as a
limited company for promoting inter alia
charity, which intends to apply its profits, if
any, or other income solely in promoting its
objects and to prohibit the payment of any
dividend to its members, shall be registered
PAGE
86
as a company with limited liability without the
addition of the word " Limited " to its name.
In considering applications for licences
under this Section the Board of Trade require
the submission of full particulars writh regard
to the financial position of the unincorporated
body, if any, and as to the status of the
promoters of the association. These must
include the accounts and balance sheets for
the past two years and any reports of work
during that period, together writh a detailed
statement of assets and liabilities.
Before a licence under the Section is issued
to an association the Board of Trade require
to be satisfied that it is formed for the purposes
set out in the Section, and that the provisions
of the Memorandum of Association comply
with the above conditions. The Board also
require that certain provisions shall be in-
serted in the Memorandum of Association.
These provisions refer, inter alia, to : —
(a) the holding of property subject to the
jurisdiction of the Charity Commissioners
(or Board of Education as the case may be) ;
(b) the application of income and pro-
perty solely towards the promotion of the
objects of the association, except for the
payment of reasonable and proper remuner-
ation to its officers and servants, of interest
not exceeding 5 per cent, per annum on
money lent, and of reasonable and proper
rent for premises ; the prohibition of the
payment of any dividends or bonus to
members and the reception by any member
of the Governing body of any remuneration
or payment other than out-of-pocket
expenses (except under the heading of
interest and rent) ;
(c) the undertaking by every member, in
the event of the association being wound
up, to contribute a fixed sum towards the
payment of debts and liabilities and the
general expenses of winding up ;
(d) the application of cy-pres of any
residue after winding up ;
(e) the keeping of true accounts, open to
the inspection of members and an audit,
at least annually, by a properly qualified
auditor or auditors.
After the issue of the licence by the Board
of Trade and the registration of the association
under the Companies Act, no supervision is
exercised by the Board over the conduct of
the business of the association. The Board's
duties are thereupon . confined to the con-
BEACON
sideration of
(a) any proposed alterations of the
Memorandum and Articles of Association ;
(b) any circumstances brought to the
notice of the Board which might necessitate
the exercise of their powers under sub-
section (4) to revoke the license.
Any principal advantage to be gained by a
charity by incorporation under this Act is that
it is thereby able to hold land without the
appointment of trustees, but in spite of what
has been said as to the absence of any con-
tinuing control by the Board, there can be no
doubt that the possession of a license is
commonly regarded as evidence, in some
sort, that the charity is well conducted.
Royal Charter.
Royal Charters granted in modern practice
to charitable institutions follow substantially
a model form which provides inter alia for an
annual audit by a member, or members, of a
recognised body or society of accountants
and the presentation of accounts at an Annual
General Meeting. The older charitable
institutions established by Royal Charter are
nearly all endowed charities and therefore are
subject to the jurisdiction of the Charity
Commissioners or the Board of Education.
The grant of a Royal Charter of Incorpor-
ation like the Board of Trade license gives,
among other rights, that of holding land
without the appointment of trustees, but since
it is well known that Charters are granted
only after the very closest scrutiny of the
objects of the charity and the standing of the
petitioners, the possession of a Charter is, of
course, a very much greater asset from the
point of view of repute than the holding of a
license. No supervision is exercised over the
affairs of such a charity so far as the Charter
is concerned.
Private Act of Parliament.
A few charities (e.g. King's College
Hospital, St. George's Hospital and Univer-
sity College Hospital) are incorporated by
Private Act of Parliament. The remarks just
made with regard to the effect of the grant of
a Royal Charter and the absence of any
consequential supervision except that of the
Charity Commissioners, apply equally to
charities of this kind.
In the next article attention will be drawn
to Health Institutions, Street Collections,
War Charities and Charities for the Blind.
{To be continued.)
RECENT
PUBLICATIONS
The Future of Local Government.
In these days when the industrial and
economic structure of society is undergoing
drastic reorganisation and when the mode of
life of individuals is changing in order to take
advantage of and to conform to new condi-
tions, one might expect a widespread demand
for the reform of our system of local govern-
ment in order to bring it into line with
modern requirements. For local bodies are
taking an increasingly active part in providing
for our needs, in looking after our general
well-being and even in directing our lives.
And yet apart from sporadic criticisms,
remarkably little has been written pointing
the way to reconstruction. Dr. Robson's
book" The Future of Local Government "by
W. A. Robson (Allen & Unwin, 12s. 6d.,
is, therefore, of importance since it surveys
the whole field of local government, points
out its many shortcomings and, what is of
most value, plans out the ways to be followed
in order to secure a much more efficient,
serviceable and inspiring structure. The
system, as we know it to-day, is the more or
less haphazard growth of nearly a century.
The result is a large amount of overlapping,
much lack of co-ordination, often hostility
between rival authorities, waste and ineffici-
ency. Often, too, authorities are too small to
be able adequately to perform the duties
imposed upon them by Parliament ; some-
times, as in the case of drainage boards, they
are uncoordinated or have incomplete
jurisdiction so that much of the work per-
formed is wasted. The importance of the
work carried out by local authorities may be
gathered from the fact that they control an
annual expenditure which is considerably
greater than that of the central government, if
we leave out of account National Debt
charges. These sums include large grants
from the National Exchequer. Local bodies
are, furthermore, the agents for putting into
execution many of the enactments of Parlia-
ment. Yet the methods of recruitment of
those who are directly entrusted with the
actual carrying out of this work is entirely
unsatisfactory. Not only are the qualifications
which are demanded of local officials from one
end of the scale to the other, not commensurate
PAGE
87
BEACON
with the functions to be performed, but the
manner in which vacancies are filled is
generally unsatisfactory.
It is impossible in the space of a few
sentences to sketch out Dr. Robson's sug-
gestions for improving the system, but one or
two must be mentioned here and will suffice
to indicate the courage and imagination with
which the problem has been handled.
The larger boroughs are to be given county
Borough status. In order, however, to
secure a greater measure of co-ordination in
the general system and to prevent the more
sparsely populated areas from being hampered
in their work, authorities are to be linked
together federally for specific functions, the
structure of the composite authorities being
determined by the work they have to perform.
The personnel should be recruited on lines
somewhat similar to those laid down by the
Civil Service Commissioners. In order to
enhance efficiency the author advocates an
interchange of officials, not only between local
bodies, but also between the latter and the
central departments. The removal of most
of the restraints at present existing on munici-
pal enterprise would, he believes, be wholly
desirable and would revive interest in local
affairs.
All those interested in local government
would do well to read this book for, although
they may find much with which they could
not agree, they could not fail to find it
stimulating and suggestive.
The Sight-Saving Review.
The National Society for the Prevention of
Blindness, 450, Seventh Avenue, New York,
N.Y., U.S.A., has, in the words of the
Editorial of its magazine " added one more
powerful machine to its ammunition " in the
issue of the new quarterly " The Sight-
Saving Review," whose first number for
March, 193 1 has just reached us. " The
Sight Saving Review " (published at 3 dollars
per annum) sets out to give authoritative
information on all matters relating to the
preservation of eye-sight to those concerned
with public health, and in its first number
interesting papers are published dealing with
glaucoma, proper lighting of home, school
and workshop, the work of sight-saving in
Kindergarten and Nursery School, an ap-
preciation of the great work of Ernst Fuchs,
and notes on the work of blindness-prevention
PAGE
in all parts of the world, together with
important book-reviews.,
In the recently published Ninth Report of
the Advisory Committee in this country, the
following words occur — " It seems to us that
the time has now come for an intensive and
concerted campaign to be undertaken with
this purpose (i.e. prevention of blindness) in
view." May we commend to those interested
in the subject the " ammunition " provided
by the new quarterly ?
Dr. Strehl's Handbook.
The second part of the Handbook on work
for the blind edited by Dr. Strehl of Marburg/
Lahn has now been published, and deals in
considerable detail with blind welfare in
Europe and the United States. Dr. Strehl
has been careful to secure the views of experts
in the various countries, and sections have
been contributed by them dealing with the
history of blind legislation, statistics relating
to the blind, their education and training, and
their general welfare ; the names and ad-
dresses of the principal institutions in the
countries dealt with are also given, and a final
summing-up of the present position in the
blind world is contributed by Dr. Strehl
himself.
Professor Villey has been responsible for
the section dealing with France, Signor
Soleri treats of Italy, Dr. Best discusses the
position in the United States, while Captain
Ian Fraser, Mr. Merrick and Mr. Halliday are
responsible for the sections on England and
Scotland.
Dr. Strehl is to be congratulated on the
production of an important work which
should do much to stimulate interest in
Germany in what is being done in other
countries to meet the needs of the blind.
The Queen at L.A.B. Exhibition.
The Blind Record (March, 193 1) gives an
interesting account of a surprise visit paid by
Her Majesty the Queen to the Christmas Fair
and Exhibition organised by the London
Association for the Blind at Bush House.
Photographs of their workers, reports of their
Annual Christmas Party, written by two
blind girls (" in the morning we were busy
going to the hairdressers to have our hair
waved, after dinner we were dressing till it
was time to start," strikes a festive note) and
an account of the St. Valentine Eve Ball, all
contribute to the interest of the magazine.
cDficZNcw
Published by
the National
Institute for
the Blind
BEACON
Editorial Offices:
224 Great Port-
land Street,
London, W.\.
THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF WIRELESS
THE practical sympathy of the B.B.C. with the interests of blind listeners has
been exemplified in many ways. Outstanding instances of the effect of that
sympathy are free licences, the " Braille Radio Times," and the British
" Wireless for the Blind " Fund. There is, however, one offer of co-operation
on the part of the B.B.C. which has not, we consider, received the attention
it deserves. Two years ago, we published an article by a B.B.C. official
drawing attention to the " vast educational possibilities of broadcasting," and
suggesting group listening and group discussion of serial talks amongst the blind.
The writer pointed out the four essentials for the successful conduct of a group : (i) a good
group leader, (2) a suitable meeting place, (3) good reception and (4) co-operation with the
B.B.C, and expressed the hope that " among the many blind listeners some will be found
sufficiently keen to undertake the organisation of a wireless listening group." Anyone
proposing to do so was advised to get in touch with the Adult Education Section of the B.B.C.
Now, although this article was reprinted in the Braille magazines, apparently there has been
no definite result. This is somewhat surprising, as undoubtedly the average blind listener takes
an interest in the " serious " side of the wireless programmes equal to, or even greater, than that of
a listener with sight, because he depends so much more on wireless for enlightenment. We recognise,
of course, that in many resident Institutions for the Blind the inmates may be either below or
above the age when adult education is an active interest. But all resident Institutions are not
of this kind, and there are several clubs for the blind where group discussions might be introduced
by initiative on the part of some individual, provided he were assisted by the British " Wire-
less for the Blind " Fund in the provision of suitable sets.
Alternatively, there is no reason why blind people should not join existing groups of sighted
people. If readers of The New Beacon belong to, or know of, such groups, they will be doing
the blind in their neighbourhood great service by introducing them to discussion circles. There
are two main types of groups — that which meets in private houses, and that which meets in a
more or less public place, such as a library. Of the latter there were over 500 in existence last
Autumn, many being run in conjunction with such organisations as Men's Clubs, Miners'
Welfare Institutes, the Adult School Union and the Workers' Educational Association. The
object of these groups is, of course, to give people an opportunity of getting full value out of
the broadcast talks by means of discussion under a competent leader, and there is no doubt at
all that they are succeeding admirably in this respect. Many listeners have expressly stated
that the value of the talks to them has been very greatly increased by listening to them with others.
Area Councils have been established in the North West, Yorkshire, the West Midlands, and
the West, and the B.B.C.'s Education Officers in these areas and at Savoy Hill and in Edinburgh
will be glad to hear of blind listeners and to put them into touch with listening groups. It is
of interest to note that it has been decided to hold a Summer School at New College, Oxford,
from June 27th to July 3rd, for the purpose of training group leaders, and it is hoped that the
blind will be represented at the conferences. " Group leading " may prove to be a very fascin-
ating pursuit for blind people.
In connection with some of the talks, the B.B.C. issues " Aids to Study " pamphlets while
The Listener " reprints many of them, and Talks and Lecture Programmes are published.
If the blind become interested in group discussion, a selection of these pamphlets should be
available in Braille. As yet, there is no apparent demand for them, but if the educational value
of wireless is once fully realised by the blind and by those concerned in their welfare, then we
have no doubt that the necessary Braille literature will be forthcoming.
We hope that when every blind person possesses a wireless set, every blind person will
likewise possess the desire to obtain the greatest possible advantage from the greatest means of
alleviating blindness this generation has produced. The Editor.
page
89
BEACON
ARE THE BLIND EXPLOITED,
VICTIMISED, OR TAKEN
ADVANTAGE OF?
By Capt. J. H. W. PORTER, M.J.I. , F.R.E.S.
(All rights reserved.)
TO answer this question involves
some difficulty in getting the
right expression by which to
convey the exact meaning of
the disadvantage, penalty, or
something in the nature of
either, to which the blind person is subjected
or by which he is made to suffer.
First of all, let it be understood that, in
dealing with the question, I have endeavoured
to acquire the most charitable frame of mind
possible, and that I make no sweeping asser-
tion that blind people are deliberately and
with malice aforethought either exploited,
victimised, taken advantage of, or penalised
by sighted people generally.
Perhaps I have not been able to strike the
happiest word to express the circumstance or
condition. This may be due to the paucity
of expression in our language or possibly I am
but poorly familiar with my native vocabulary
and so am unable to convey exactly what is
generally meant, when it is remarked that
" blind people are always being exploited."
Let us turn to the dictionary. We find
that exploitation conveys the idea that to
exploit is to use for one's own profit or purpose
to the disadvantage of another, and is
especially used by opponents of the present
industrial system of employers of capital in
industry. Clearly, this is not exactly what is
meant when the blind person is said to be
exploited, but the term is so closely akin that
it somewhat savours of it. To penalize a
person may be to place some bar or barrier
upon him which would emphasise an ordinary
handicap from which he obviously suffers or
under which he labours. This does not
exactly convey what is meant but, again, it
savours of it. To victimise a person is to make
a victim of or swindle him. This is not
exactly what is meant by the expression, but
there is a strong suspicion that, sometimes,
actual swindling does result from the treat-
ment to which blind persons may be subjected
either by thoughtless or by callous people.
We are left now with the word advantage.
Are blind people " taken advantage of " ?
PAGE
90
The word means any state or condition
favourable to some desired end or purpose.
Here again, this is not exactly what is meant,
but consciously or unconsciously, many
people do " take advantage " — perhaps with-
out knowing or even thinking that a gesture
of the hand, a movement of the head or an
expression of the face, may convey to a
sighted witness of a conversation, between a
blind person and a third party, that an
" advantage is being taken," and unconscious
that the sighted witness involuntarily comes
to the conclusion that the other sighted person
is designedly out to take an advantage. The
conclusion may not go so far as this, but, if
not, the conviction of the sighted friend will
often find expression in the words : " I do
not like that person, I do not know why, but
I do not," or in other words " / do not like
thee, Dr. Fell, the reason why I cannot tell,
but this I know and know full well, I do not
like thee, Dr. Fell." And probably the blind
person has, separately, come to the same
conclusion.
I am sure there are many high souled,
kindly, conscientious people of most charit-
able disposition who will say that this is all
sheer nonsense and is the result of mere
suspicion, begotten of the condition of blind-
ness, but let these dear people ask the blind
person, whose almost unerring instinct can
be trusted, and he or she will tell you that
suspicion has not been aroused by the words,
much less by the look or the gesture, but by
an atmosphere which is irresistably borne in
upon the sightless person. Blind people
will tell you, and you can see it for yourself,
that they become uneasy, their nervous
system is affected, sometimes so violently that
they begin to perspire in the hands and head
and betray restlessness, or an attack of fidgets
and a desire to escape from the presence.
Comedians and others have often cracked the
joke about putting a halfpenny in the blind
beggar's tin cup and taking out a penny and
coaxing away the blind man's dog, if it does
not happen to be on a lead. I fail utterly to
see anything funny in this. It is mean and
BEACON
contemptible, as are many more stupid things
that people do or leave undone when they
might do something to help a blind person.
I was staying one winter in a Wiltshire
town. I had been in the habit of crossing the
road from my lodging to a barber's shop on
the opposite side of the road. This necessi-
tated a left incline while crossing the road.
One morning I came down to go and have a
shave and haircut, only to find that there was
nearly a foot of snow on the ground. For a
moment I hesitated and listened, and then
dismissed the left incline and walked straight
across the road. I was nearly at the opposite
curb, when, simultaneously, I, felt a warm
breath on my hand, heard a slight tinkling of
harness and buckles, and noted a slight disturb-
ance in the atmosphere. I accelerated. A man
and woman, who should have known better,
had been standing watching me and the man
remarked, " That was very clever, old chap.
I was wondering whether you would miss
the pony." The lady agreed with him. I
felt such utter contempt for both of them
that, perhaps fortunately for them — and me —
words failed me, and I requested to be guided
to the premises of the tonsorial artist. I
maintain that these people gratified their idle
curiosity at my expense, and exploited me or
took advantage of my condition in order to
gratify their curiosity.
On another occasion, in another town in
the west of England, I had learned to walk
along a certain pavement. One morning I
essayed the same short journey, when I
stepped into a trench which had been exca-
vated across the pavement since I had passed
that way the day before, and fell heavily,
grazing my hand on a pick head — one point
of which had been driven into the bottom of
the trench and left so — and beautifully
" gravel-rashing " my face on the earth on
the side of the excavation. Two people came
from the opposite side of the road to my
assistance and one of them, a tradesman of
about fifty years of age, remarked, " I thought
you knew the hole was there and I was
wondering how you would find it." His
curiosity was very practically satisfied, and I
hope he liked the demonstration I gave him.
Clearly, he should have warned me, but he,
also, took advantage of my condition to gratify
his curiosity. There are thousands of such
people in the world.
There are also many careless people who,
although they are associated every day with
blind people, become utterly careless in their
habits and often subject the blind persons
about them to grave danger. I once knew a
woman who habitually left dustpan and
brush on the stairs, or a pail in the middle of
the bathroom. In both cases, and on more
than one occasion, her blind husband narrowly
missed what might have been a very serious
accident. There are other well-intentioned
people who become so accustomed to a blind
person about them that they frequently
forget that the person is blind, with the
result that unexpected accidents, which might
have been avoided, often happen through
thoughtlessness. Familiarity breeds contempt
— in this case, contempt for blindness. There
is the funny person, too, whom the blind man
or woman has only met on two or three
occasions at considerable intervals, who,
usually when he is in company, walks up to
the blind individual and asks : " Who is
speaking ? " and who looks horribly dis-
appointed when the blind person, usually
inwardly embarrassed, fails to recognise the
questioner. Not satisfied, however, with this,
the funny person will frequently insist that
his voice must be immediately identified,
when perhaps it is as flat and expressionless
as running water.
When travelling about the country, one
often comes across the sordid-minded person
who will not do a hand's turn unless there is
" something hanging to it " but, as a compen-
sation for this, there are those great-hearted
men among men who will go out of their way
to do anything, and will even attempt to
carry you. I have frequently found myself
trying to get on to a 'bus or into a railway
carriage. Wanting above all things to get a
grip and a firm foothold, I am naturally slow,
or slower than sighted people, and on
hundreds of occasions I have been uncere-
moniously pushed aside by sighted people — I
am sorry to say, mostly women — who have
taken advantage of my indecision to push in
front of me, although there has been ample
room in the 'bus or railway carriage. I am
proud to have this opportunity of saying,
however, that these people, if seen to resort
to these tactics, usually get considerably more
than they bargain for from the men in the
employ of the London General Omnibus
Company. The latter are of an highly
intelligent order and seem to scent a blind
man or woman by instinct, and conductors
have frequently barred the gangway to the
PAGE
91
BEACON
general public while the blind person has been
got safely aboard. Railway men, too, are in
the main particularly observant and con-
siderate. I am sorry I cannot say the same
thing of some others. The public are, in the
main, very selfish and inconsiderate when it
means boarding a 'bus or train. They simply
do not observe. They can only see, and all
they are looking for is accommodation for
themselves. On one occasion, a very small
woman with a very long hatpin jumped in
front of me as I was stepping on to a 'bus and
ripped my cheek from the jawbone to the eye
with the said pin. On another occasion,
having got inside, I found a seat and apologised
to a man, whose sprawling feet I had almost
fallen over. I remarked, " Excuse me, I am
blind," and his reply was, " Then why the
devil haven't you a board on the front of you
to show that you are ! " The 'bus was nearly
full of women and he got such a rough time
of it from a couple of Victorian dames that
he rang the bell and left hurriedly amid a
chorus of jeers which may or may not have
impressed the incident on his memory for
years to come.
So far, I have said nothing of designed
intent to take advantage of the blind with a
view to gain or profit of a financial character.
But there are people who are mean enough
to do this. I knew a blind shoemaker, an
ex-serviceman, who told me that his great
difficulty in connection with his occupation
was getting payment for the work he had done.
People would use all kind of tricks and
subterfuges to obtain the repaired goods and
then leave, promising to pay to-morrow, and
while he was holding forth as to his inability
to give credit, the exploiter had slunk slyly
and noiselessly out of the shop. These
people know that the blind man cannot see
them pass the premises and that he cannot
recognise them if they meet him in the street
unless he hears their voice, so they carefully
avoid speaking until they are out of earshot.
Most blind people whom I have met are
kind-hearted and generous, and I have known
men, quite unable to afford it, lend money
to a sighted person, never of course to see it
again, for the borrower avoids putting in an
appearance wherever the blind person is
likely to be found and if there is no means of
escape when they do happen to meet under
the same roof, the borrower drops his voice
to a whisper so that the blind man shall not
detect his presence.
PAGE
92
Then there are people who exploit by
failing to help because they have the erroneous
idea that all Institutions for the Blind,
occupied in the general welfare of the blind,
feed them, clothe them, pay them unusually
well for anything that they do, find them
pocket money, Xmas hampers, and a seaside
holiday free of charge ! Yet these are the
very people who, if asked for a donation, say
" Let the State do it," and, at the same time,
if a tax of five shillings a year were imposed
upon every sighted person for the mainten-
ance in comfort of the blind portion of the
community, would be the first to rail against
the tax. Of course, these people never think
that it is neither charity nor pity that blind
people want, but an opportunity to do some
kind of useful work in order to enjoy happiness
in occupation and so help to maintain
themselves as respectable citizens.
Undoubtedly, blind people are handicapped
or penalised by employers of labour, who are
loth to give sightless persons an opportunity
of showing what they can do in spite of their
particular disability. Much has to be done
to educate the sighted public to realise that
blind people are neither daft nor lazy.
Sighted people forget that blind people can
sense environment even to knowing, by some
wonderful instinct, when they are in a
disordered and untidy apartment. They also
forget that blind people put great reliance
upon the tone of voice of the person who is
speaking to them and the quality of a hand-
shake. People with sight have a lot to learn
about blindness and blind persons and they
would learn it much quicker if they were to
talk frankly and openly with the sightless,
rather than try to be " funny " and to take
mean and petty advantages which can only be of
transitory amusement and benefit. There are
people who delight in trying to find out how
readily a blind shopkeeper can discriminate
between coins of the realm and treasury notes,
and I know cases where these blind persons
have been deliberately cheated and robbed.
And now, good reader, it is for you to say
whether blind people are exploited, victimised,
taken advantage of, or penalised — wilfully or
intentionally or otherwise does not much
matter — and if you do not like any one of the
words I have used, it is up to you to suggest
a more appropriate one ! At any rate, I shall
be glad to have your experiences, so address
your correspondence to the Editor and we
ought to land a splendid catch of ideas.
BEACON
FRENCH TEXT-BOOK ON BRAILLE
MUSIC NOTATION.
THE American Braille Press,
74, Rue Lauriston, Paris,
have just published, in
letterpress and in Braille,
the new French Text-book
on the above subject, enti-
tled " Notation Musicale
Braille."
The title-page explains that the manual has
been compiled in accordance with the decis-
ions of the International Congress held in
Paris in April, 1929, at which our readers will
recollect that uniformity as to the actual
symbols henceforward to be used in Braille
Music-Notation throughout the world was so
happily secured.
In the Preface, contributed by Monsieur
Georges L. Raverat, Secretary-General of the
American Braille Press, due acknowledgment
is made of the co-operation of the authorities
of those Institutions for the Blind, on both
sides of the Atlantic, who sent their Braille-
music experts as delegates to the Congress.
Recognition is also made of the immense
labour undertaken by Monsieur Remy Clavers,
Professor at l'lnstitution Nationale desjeunes
Aveugles, Paris, and Monsieur Paul Dupas, of
the American Braille Press, in the preparation
of the text of the manual, for discussion, and
of the skill with which they afterwards
prepared it for publication.
M. Raverat concludes by stating that it has
always been his view that uniformity in the
method of transcription is of secondary
importance compared with uniformity of
musical symbols, and that this was the general
opinion, and governed all the decisions of the
Congress.
Following upon this there appears a
Foreword, written (at request of the delegates)
by Mr. Edward Watson, who acted as
Secretary to the Congress, and who, together
with Mr. P. T. Mayhew, represented the
English National Institute thereat. The
writer gives a concise but comprehensive
survey of the history and development of
Braille Music-notation, from its invention, in
1829, to tne Centenary Year 1929, which so
propitiously marked the date of the Congress.
The text-book (which is in French) is
arranged as a Tutor, and consists of twenty-
two chapters, covering the whole range of
Braille Music-notation. In the letterpress
edition, illustrations of transcription from
Staff notation to Braille (the latter printed in
black-dot characters) appear throughout the
work, just as in the inkprint edition of the
National Institute's Tutor.
Although the notation signs themselves
(with the exception of the half dozen or more
which were conceded, for uniformity) are
familiar to English Music-Braillists ; yet, it
is to be observed that the method of tran-
scription is not by any means always in line
with English practice as exemplified by our
" Bar-by-bar," and " Vertical Score " style.
But, of course, the Paris Congress concen-
trated on the task of securing agreement first
as to international uniformity in regard to
symbols, leaving method of transcription for
discussion on another occasion, and, it was
hoped, at not too remote a time.
In the French manual, for instance,
intervals are still read downwards from the
Treble, in the '' old style " long since aban-
doned in this country.
Again, the French retain, in Choral and
Orchestral music, special signs for the
various C clefs, to correspond exactly with the
inkprint notation, a point which is not now
stressed in this country, especially in regard
to Vocal music, either in Staff Notation or in
Braille.
The chapter on " Figured Bass " would
not be very helpful to a blind student resident
in England, owing to the different way in
which the subject is expounded in the
standard Text-books on Harmony, etc.,
compiled by English professors.
There is an excellent chapter on Plainsong
(Vatican method), which to the French
organist, or organ student, is invaluable ;
whereas to his English brother organist it
could not be of much practical value in his
work as Director of the Music in the Anglican
Church, though, of course, to some it might
be an interesting study.
Apart from these friendly criticisms — which
are intended to show that ample provision
has now been made for the student across the
Channel — we have nothing but praise for the
splendid way in which this difficult subject
PAGE
93
BEACON
has been expounded. It meets a great need,
as did the English Key and Primer in this
country, and will undoubtedly have the effect
not only of confirming and standardising the
Notation Symbols, but of securing uniformity
as regards the method of teaching the subject
of Braille music on the Continent, as did the
publication of our own manuals in the Schools
for the Blind throughout the British Empire.
The American Braille Press is also to be
congratulated on the way in which the
letterpress edition is got up. We know, from
experience, how difficult it is to set up Braille
in black-dot characters with that meticulous
precision which is essential if it is to be
absolutely " to scale." The excellent manner
in which this has been accomplished, together
with the general lay-out of the whole treatise,
is beyond criticism, and we are glad to extend
a hearty welcome to this new contribution to
Braille musical culture.
OBITUARY
We much regret to report the death of : —
The Rev. A. T. Dence, at the age of 60,
formerly rector of Swindon, near Cheltenham,
afterwards living in retirement at Torquay
and at " Court Grange," Abbotskerswell.
Two years ago when the Blind Babies' Home
at Chorley Wood, Herts, was destroyed by fire,
Mr. and Mrs. Dence offered " Court Grange"
to the National Institute as a New Home for
the babies. The offer was accepted and the
babies lived at " Court Grange " until the
Home at East Grinstead, Sussex, was opened
just before Christmas. " Court Grange " in
future will be used as a Home for Mentally
Retarded Blind Children.
Alexander Dow. head of the firm of
Murdoch and Murdoch, piano merchants.
For many years Mr. Dow was Chairman of
the Home |for the Blind, Hanley Road,
London, N., and was a most generous friend
to the institution.
Mary Elizabeth Watson, of Torquay, in
her 79th year. During her lifetime she was
closely connected with the work of the Tor-
quay Aid Society for the Blind and the
Torquay Blind Persons' Club.
Dr. Florence Buchanan, daughter of the
late Sir George Buchanan, F.L.S., Chief
Medical Officer of the Local Government
Board. She had a most distinguished scien-
tific career, being the first woman to be
elected a member of the Physiological Society.
In 1 90 1 she had the first attack of an eye-
trouble (detachment of the retina) which
ultimately rendered her almost completely
blind ; but she worked on in spite of her
failing sight. In the same year the degree of
D.Sc. was conferred on her by London
University, mainly in recognition of a paper
on " the electrical response of muscle in
different kinds of contraction." This paper
was dictated while she was for three months
kept lying on her back in the hope of averting
the further progress of her eye trouble. She
was also elected a Fellow of University
College, London, and awarded several prizes
for scientific contributions. Up till the end
she continued her scientific work, in spite of
advancing blindness, and it was characteristic
of her that she became greatly interested in
the subjective phenomena due to her eye
affection.
" In her dress and her attitude of inde-
pendence, Dr. Buchanan was unconven-
tional," says the Star, " but the picture of
this sightless scientist making her regular
visits to the laboratories, conducting experi-
ments and making detailed notes upon the
progress of her own affliction, brings home
the indomitable courage of this heroic
woman."
PERSONALIA
Mr. Cyril Moore has resigned his position
as Organiser for the Stoke-on-Trent and
North Staffordshire Committee for the Care
of the Blind, as from the 31st March.
Tributes were paid to his work at the last
meeting of the Committee.
Mrs. A. 0. B. Nicholson has resigned the
position of Superintendent of the Liverpool
Workshops and Home Teaching Society for
the out-door blind.
Miss D. Hooey, of " Sunniholme," Pen
Street, Boston, is now the Secretary of the
Boston and Holland Blind Society.
Mr. John Carmichael has succeeded Mr.
Bell as Secretary and Treasurer of the Society
for Teaching the Blind at their Homes in the
Counties of Stirling and Clackmannan, the
address of which is 27, Mar Street, Alloa,
Scotland.
PAGE
94
BEACON
0ORRBP0NDINCE
To the Editor.
1,800 Deaf-Blind.
Sir, — I was very much interested in the
article entitled " A Deaf-Blind Child's Out-
look," in The New Beacon for March.
I do not think it is generally known that
there are about 1,800 deaf-blind persons in
this country and I think it should be more
widely known.
I have read of a school for deaf-blind
children, but there seems to be no provision
made for the adult deaf-blind, apart from
what is done for those who are only blind.
Many of them live in institutions as the
only inmate so afflicted. In such cases a
deaf-blind person has no one who is able to
talk to him except when a visitor happens to
call who is able to talk by means of the
Manual Alphabet.
The deaf-blind are so delighted to meet
others afflicted in the same way and to enjoy
a little friendly conversation that it seems to
me that those who are living alone in an
institution might be placed where there are
one or two others, or that a Holiday Home
should be provided where they can meet one
another from time to time ; either of these
courses would bring much happiness into
their dark and silent lives.
As so much has of late been contributed
for the Wireless for the Blind Fund, which
opens up a new world for the Blind, might
not more be done for those who are so much
more heavily handicapped and who can have
no share in this wonderful Fund ?
Yours, etc., E. H. Lee (Mrs.).
Moseley, Birmingham.
To the Editor.
i/ Journalism for the Blind.
Sir, — This subject interests me very deeply,
as I have been engaged in writing for various
newspapers for the last fifty years. Of course,
I was only partially blind at first, when T
began to write in the year 1880, while I was
still in my teens. But even then I had to
hold books or papers close to my face before
I could read them, and I had to lean closely
over the sheet as I wrote. Still I managed to
learn Pitman's Shorthand, and could take
copious notes at public meetings, and sent in
local news from a purely rural district to
Aberdeen papers. In 1910 I lost my sight
altogether, and since then I have read in
Braille type, and I have made use of
a typewriter for writing. Before I was
compelled to give up my ordinary work, that
of Postman in this district, I had succeeded in
forming a close connection with an Aberdeen
daily paper, by writing a column of Rural
Notes and a second column of Dialogue,
written in the Aberdeenshire Dialect, and
these two columns are still being produced,
and bring in a small salary from the paper.
As I am now 69 years of age, I confess it is
somewhat difficult for me to find matter of
sufficient public interest to fill these two
columns, but up to the present I have never
failed my paper one week.
I began my column of Dialogue as far back
as 1901, and it still goes on. It is made up of
the Talk between two farmers who discuss
all sorts of matters connected with the farm,
and also local affairs such as the Church and
religion, parish politics, and the like.
Practice has taught me that it is possible to
think and write your thoughts with a type-
writer simultaneously. It does require some
practice to do that, but I prefer to carry on
my work in this way, and write as little
Braille as I can. As for reporting meetings,
I do that only from memory, and take no
notes of any kind.
It was well for me that I had made some
connections with this newspaper before
blindness came altogether upon me, as I had
only a small pension and had to earn a living
somehow.
I may only add that the work is fascinating,
and for those who are handicapped like Mr.
Keiley and myself, there is nothing more
agreeable than to have some work to do of a
congenial character.
I must also say how much I value the
Literary Journal [published by the National
Institute for the Blind]. I read four of the
Institute's Braille Magazines as well as the
Braille Mail, and find myself as well posted
up in current affairs as those who read all
sorts of books and papers. It is one of the
most blessed happenings in this world that
Braille type was invented, and that it can be
made to occupy so little room and yet be so
clear and readable. Although I was nearly
fifty, I learned to use Braille and a typewriter
without personal supervision.
Yours, etc.,
Post Office, James Alexander.
Ythan Wells,
Huntly, Aberdeenshire.
PAGE
95
BEACON
To the Editor.
Dr. Edward £. Allen.
Sir, — The Trustees of the Perkins Institu-
tion and Massachusetts School for the Blind
desire to place on record their deep appreci-
ation of the services of Edward Ellis Allen,
who retires as Director about July ist, 1931.
Mr. Allen taught at the Institution from
1888-90, and in 1907 after a successful service
as Principal of the Pennsylvania Institution
for the Blind at Overbrook, returned to the
Perkins Institution as Director. Thus he has
been the active head for twenty-four years.
During this period it is not too much to say
that the Institution has been entirely remade,
with new and beautiful physical equipment,
and with a constantly more effective standard
of teaching, of administration, and of service
to the blind. In all of this progress Mr. Allen
has been the source of leadership and of
inspiration. It is not possible to enumerate
all of the permanent contributions he has
made to the science of the education of the
blind. But in this field he has been a pioneer,
emphasizing the many sides of the need,
physical, mental, artistic, and spiritual. As
author, founder of, and lecturer at, the
Harvard course for educators of the blind,
administrator and teacher, he stands foremost
in his profession. For all this the Trustees
express their gratitude and admiration.
Especially they desire to record their feeling
for Mr. Allen as a man and as a friend ;
unselfish, tireless, he has given of himself to
the very limit. To work with him has been
a privilege. He retires with the affection of
everyone connected with the Institution.
In recognition of these services the Trustees
have elected Mr. Allen Director Emeritus,
with the hope that in the years to come the
Institution may be helped by his counsel and
assistance.
The Trustees announce the election of Rev.
Gabriel Farrell, Jr., as Director, to take effect
about July ist. Mr. Farrell has had experi-
ence both in education and executive work.
The Trustees are confident that with his
spirit of understanding and of co-operation
the Perkins Institution will continue its great
service to the Blind.
Yours, etc.,
For the Trustees,
Watertown, Robert H. Hallo well,
February 24th, 193 1. President.
page
96
THE BLIND IN THE IRISH
FREE STATE.
WE have received two letters
from Mr. J. P. Neary, of
the Irish Association for
the Blind, but as they are
rather too long to be
quoted in full we append
the following summary: —
Mr. Neary criticises the statement that
" there has been up to now* no voluntary
system of blind welfare in the Free State and
consequently no organisation at work to watch
the interests of the blind," pointing out that
the Irish Association for the Blind, 35, North
Great George Street, Dublin, has been
actively engaged in endeavouring to advance
the cause of the blind since 1922.
He further suggests (1) that the statement
which implies that a blind child in the Irish
Free State must attend school is erroneous,
stating that there is no legislation in the Irish
Free State to compel either parents or local
authorities to send a blind child to either of
the two voluntary schools for the blind, and
(2) that the statement that there are four
workshops, of which three are in Dublin, is
open to misconstruction as there are only two
workshops employing outdoor workers in the
Free State.
We are grateful to Mr. Neary for bringing
to our notice the work of the Irish Association
for the Blind, and for pointing out that our
statement with regard to the blind child was
open to misconstruction through being some-
what condensed. The statement with regard
to the four workshops was taken from the
League of Nations Report on the Welfare of
the Blind and we are glad to amplify it by the
statement that of the four, two only employ
outdoor workers.
Since the publication of the article in the
February issue of The New Beacon our
readers will be interested to know that a
Central Committee has been set up for the
welfare of the blind in Ireland, on which the
Irish Association for the Blind, the Irish
League for the Blind, and various Institutions
are represented. Our correspondent states
that the Irish Association for the Blind has as
* That is, since the passing of the Blind Persons
Act in 1920. Earlier than this Mr. Rochford Wade
had founded the Hibernian Blind Society, later ab-
sorbed in the National Institute for the Blind in
Ireland, which came to an end in 1920.
BEACON
its aim " to press forward its claims for a
more just and more generous enactment
capable for providing for all the needs and
requirements of the sightless " ; and this, too,
will be the aim of the new Central Committee.
ACHIEVEMENTS
OF THE BLIND
Success of Young Blind Pianists.
The distinctive feature of the past Season's
Monthly Concerts at the National Institute,
has been the array of young blind pianists who
have taken part in the programme.
At the opening and closing Concerts
respectively, the pianists were Mr. Alec
Templeton, L.R.A.M., and Mr. David
Williams, F.R.C.O., L.R.A.M., who are now
students at the Royal College of Music, and
who, it may be remembered, carried off
prizes some years back in connection with the
Daily Express Piano Playing Competition.
Their playing at the Monthly Concerts bore
ample testimony to the exceptional character
of their musical gifts, and to their having
taken full advantage of the excellence of the
tuition they have received at the Royal Normal
College for the Blind, and later at the Royal
College of Music. Both showed not only
fluency of technique, but also great delicacy
of expression ; while Mr. Templeton — in a
charmingly written Prelude, and a brilliant
Toccata — gave evidence of great promise as
a Composer.
The other Pianists were Miss Mary Munn,
L.R.A.M., a young Canadian studying at the
Matthay School, London ; Miss Audrey
Lidington, L.R.A.M., and Mr. David Buchan.
The two last named studied at the Royal
Normal College, and are doing well in their
profession. All three gave pleasure by their
playing, and in addition to admirably
rendered Solos, Mr. Buchan acted as accom-
panist to the eminent baritone, Mr. Roy
Henderson, and played the piano part in
Piano and Organ Duets. Here it may be
noted that Mr. Henderson, who had not
previously had a blind accompanist, expressed
particular satisfaction with his collaborator,
whose power to transpose immediately any
song struck him as a remarkable gift. Mr.
Buchan consummated his triumphs on the
particular evening in question, by a masterly
improvization upon themes supplied by the
audience.
The other blind artistes who participated in
the Season's Concerts were Slippere, Enter-
tainer at the Piano, and Mr. F. H . Etcheverria,
Baritone, both of whom gave pleasure in their
respective roles.
Choir of Blind Girl Guides.
The feature of the fourth day bf the London
Musical Competition Festival at Central Hall,
Westminster, was the success of a choir of
girl guides, the First Swiss Cottage Rangers —
all of whom are blind — who won the Princess
Mary (Countess of Harewood's) Challenge
Standard against seven other choirs. They
were accompanied by Mr. Osborne, who is
also blind.
Blind Clerk at Office of Works.
Miss Violet Harper, of Beckenham, has
been appointed a junior clerk in the Office of
W'orks. She was trained at the Royal Normal
College for the Blind and at the National
Institute for the Blind. She has been practi-
cally blind since she was six, but she can still
see a little with her right eye. Her shorthand
speed is ioo words a minute, and she can
typewrite at 60 words a minute.
Blind Theatrical Company.
A theatrical company of seven blind girls
is giving plays at the Booth Theatre, New
York, astonishing audiences by their compe-
tence. The group calls itself " The Light-
house Players," after the New York organis-
ation for the blind of that name. Their per-
fection in such necessary accomplishments
as walking easily about the stage, chatting to
each other and so on, is due to the most
careful attention to details. Small slips of
carpet, for instance, invisible to the audience,
guide the feet, and each performer has a
perfect mental picture of the stage. It is
essential that everything used or touched is
in exact position. The actresses, of course,
are not professionals, but the standard of
their amateur performances led them to a
regular Broadway theatre. The actresses
support themselves. One teaches dancing
and elocution, and there is a dictaphone
operator and others are stenographers and
typists. Despite their blindness they make
their own dresses for their repertoire.
PAGE
97
BEACON
UNION OF COUNTIES ASSOCIATIONS
FOR THE BLIND.
The Midland Counties Association Conference.
A CONFERENCE of Local
Authorities, Secretaries,
Home Teachers and others
interested in Blind Welfare
was held at the Birmingham
Royal Institution for the
Blind, by kind permission
of the Committee, on Thursday and Friday,
19th and 20th March, 193 1.
The Conference was presided over by Miss
J. A. Merivale, Chairman of the Midland
Counties Association, who gave a cordial
welcome to all present and referred to the last
Conference at which the chief subject had
been the Prevention of Blindness ; this was
now being dealt with by a special Committee
set up to carry out investigations with a view
to further action. On the present occasion the
Conference had met to discuss a number of
vital subjects. Miss L. A. Winter, Vice-
Chairman of the Middlesex Association for
the Blind, would address the meeting on
" Services for the Unemployable Blind," to
be followed by Alderman C. Lucas, Chairman
of the After- Care Committee of the Birming-
ham Royal Institution, Mrs. Cowley, Secre-
tary to the Northern Counties Association for
the Blind, on Registration and Statistics,
Miss Jean Robinson, M.A., and Mr. Charles
Mclnnes, M.A. (Lecturer in History, Bristol
University), on the Mental Outlook for the
Blind, and Mr. Fuller, Organising Secretary
to the British Wireless for the Blind Fund, on
Wireless for the Blind in the Midland area,
followed by Miss Urmson (Hon. Secretary,
Midland Counties Association).
Delegates from the Midland area and
visitors from other parts of the country
attended the Conference and the discussions
which followed the papers were evidence of
the keen interest they had aroused.
Miss Winter, in her helpful and sympathe-
tic paper on " Services for the Unemployable
Blind," spoke of the ways in which the blind
who were prevented by age, health or circum-
stances from following a wage-earning trade
could be helped to take part in normal life,
so that they might learn in time to overcome
their blindness. There were those who, not
without a fierce and secret battle, used their
blindness to the glory of God and the service
of man, but there were others for whom the
fight was long drawn out and who needed
wise and unobtrusive help in learning the
patient practice of doing without sight. Side
by side with Braille, there were numerous
ways of training the memory and the sense
of hearing and touch, such as telling coins,
playing card games with sighted people,
comparing memory notes of lectures or talks
heard on the Wireless, and welcome occupa-
tion could be found in the many pastime
handicrafts that the resourceful Home
Teacher had at her command. There were
many friendly services that could be rendered
by voluntary helpers who were willing to be
an escort on a walk, to help in the choice of
books from the Library, or to provide
companionship or small pleasures of one kind
or another. Such services were by no means
one sided, for the blind were not debarred
from the happiness of friendship, and the
visitor who had gone to cheer might quite well
come away with a sense of having left their
own burden behind them.
Alderman C. Lucas gave an account of the
financial help given to the blind in Birming-
ham.
Mrs. Cowley, in an able and comprehensive
paper on Registration and Statistics, ap-
proached her subject from a scientific point of
view, and spoke of the need for greater
uniformity and accuracy in the records at
present being kept. She had consulted an
expert whose opinion was that until good and
comparable records had been kept for at least
ten years no reliable information could be
gained on which to base a scientific conclusion.
She went on to say that blind welfare had
changed its nature in recent years. In the
past the driving force had been emotional,
sentimental and religious. The sentimentalist
had had sufficient statesmanship to build up
a good organisation which provided a frame-
work on which those able to command more
adequate resources could build. Now that
the efforts of the pioneers had succeeded and
blind welfare was passing into a public
service, it had become a social problem,
needing not less humanity, but what she could
BEACON
only call more scientific treatment, a prelim-
inary step towards which was the compilation
of correct, reliable and adequate statistics.
She suggested that in order to achieve this end
greater care was needed in filling in registra-
tion cards, a clearer understanding of the
term " partially blind " should be arrived at,
arrangements to safeguard the quick transfer
of cases from one area to another should be
made and a system of standardisation and
codification of the causes of blindness agreed
upon. She referred to the various methods of
certification of blind persons and emphasised
the need for examination by an ophthalmic
surgeon in order that greater uniformity
might be attained and the causes of blindness
scientifically ascertained.
Miss Jean Robinson and Mr. Mclnnes gave
generously of their own experience in speaking
on the Mental Outlook of the Blind, giving
an impression of high courage and humorous
fortitude that could not fail to impress their
hearers. Towards the end of her speech Miss
Robinson put in a plea for Post Guides and
gave a brief description of the way in which
they worked.
Mr. Fuller spoke on local Wireless problems
and a number of points were raised and
dealt with.
A feature of the Conference was the
excellent exhibition of work done by the
unemployable blind in the Midland area.
Among the objects displayed were a piano
made from a variety of unlikely materials, a
gramophone, a script writing frame, toys, a
three valve wireless set, in addition to carpen-
try, knitting, rugs, netting, basketry and other
handicrafts. There was also an interesting
show of hyacinths grown by the blind, which
had evoked keen interest.
At the close of the afternoon session on each
of the two days of the Conference the pupils
of the Birmingham Royal Institution for the
Blind presented a play entitled " The Sand
Castle," the performance of which must
remain as a memorable experience in the
minds of those who witnessed it. The acting
was delightful in its unaffected simplicity, the
singing charming, and it was evident that the
children entered into their parts with keen
appreciation and a real sense of character.
Tours of inspection of the Schools, Training
Departments and Workshops were arranged
by the Superintendent of the Birmingham
Royal Institution for the Blind and a number
of delegates availed themselves of the op-
portunity of learning something of the work
that is being carried on.
The Conference came to a conclusion with
a vote of thanks to all who had contributed to
its success.
A full report of the Conference will be
available shortly, to be obtained on application
to Miss B. Urmson, Midland Counties
Association for the Blind, 23, Leckford Road,
Oxford.
Clovernook Home for the Blind, Ohio,
The Report for 1929-30 gives an interesting
account of the Home, which employs twenty
women and girls in its printing department,
and about fifteen weavers. A children's
Braille magazine, thousands of Braille Christ-
mas booklets and calendars, games, playing
cards and books are among the activities of
the printing shop. A legacy of 25,000 dollars
recently received and to be expended
on building and equipment is gratefully
recorded.
A Blind Philanthropist.
Miss Kate Griffith, of Hartley Wintney.
Hants, was for five years a successful ex-
hibitor at the Royal Academy. But an
accident destroyed the sight of one eye com-
pletely, and left her little vision in the other.
Paralysis of the left side also occurred, and
she became bed-ridden.
Cut off from the art she loved, Miss
Griffith determined to devote her life to the
welfare of the blind. In her native county
there was a number of sightless men and
women endeavouring to make a livelihood by
handicraft in their own homes, and she
offered to act as their sales- wo man.
Her bedroom served as a clearing-house ;
business developed beyond the Hampshire
borders ; and more than £1,200 has been
handed over to the blind during the past six
years.
In addition to giving them financial help
Miss Griffith has been serving the blind in
other ways. When her own sight failed she
immediately set herself to learn Braille which
she can now read and write fluently. She
has already transcribed into Braille several
books and stories for blind readers.
PAGE
99
BEACON
REVIEWS
REPORTS
Servers of the Blind League.
The Report for 1929-30 falls into two parts,
the earlier dealing with the Social Clubs in
London and the provinces, and the latter with
the work of the Ellen Terry Home, Reigate.
There are now ten clubs in the London
area, and seven in the provinces, and to those
familiar with the excellently run clubs
already existing are not surprised to read in
the Report that " the demand for the estab-
lishment of further clubs continues insistent."
That part of the Report which deals with
the Reigate Home is from the pen of its
medical officer, and deals in detail with
several of the eighteen children in the care of
the League. The work of training the men-
tally defective blind child is one that requires
untold patience and there must be many
disappointments ; but there is much encour-
agement also especially in records like the
following : — " This child came to us in 1925,
and has made such good progress that though
feeble-minded, almost blind, and very deaf,
he left us on September and, 1929, to go to
a school for normal blind children in London,
where he is doing very well." " K.P.
continues to improve markedly, and helps in
the schoolroom. She is having pianoforte
lessons." " M.A. came to us four
and a half years ago with the report that she
was an absolutely hopeless case. Now,
however, she seems almost like a normal
child, her face lights up as she talks, and she
has developed a great sense of humour."
The second Home for older girls is nearing
completion, and is likely to open before the
next Report is issued.
Royal Institution for the Blind, North
Adelaide.
The 45th Annual Report for 1929-30
shows that the Institution has suffered like so
many others from the general financial and
industrial depression, though even so nearly
£16,900 was taken in the sale of goods. That
the standard of work continues very high is
evident from the fact that at a Palace of
Industry Exhibition gold, silver, and bronze
medals were won by the Institution.
PAGE
100
Royal Victoria School, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
The Annual Report for the year ending
March 31st, 1930, records " another year of
progress and usefulness." There are now 146
inmates altogether in the School, and the
many photographs which illustrate the Report,
whether of boys and girls at work or play, or
of the buildings themselves, bear out the
comment of the Hon. Medical Officer that
" they live under ideal conditions from a
hygienic point of view, as regards both their
living and working quarters and their outdoor
surroundings." It is interesting to read that
the Stand taken at the Exhibition by the
Institution proved a great success, and aroused
much public attention.
City of Sheffield Welfare of the Blind
Department.
The Report for 1929/30 describes some
interesting experiments in the Workshops,
and the introduction of new processes. The
aim of the Committee " to produce only the
very best quality goods in all grades " is a
high one, but the fact that in spite of general
trade depression the sales for the year ending
March 31st, 1930 showed an increase over
those of the previous year more than justifies
it.
The Sheffield and District Voluntary
Committee for the Welfare of the Blind
continues to carry out its special work of
providing special grants in cases of sickness or
other emergency, and has organised a choral
class which has given several concerts during
the season. The handicraft classes have
proved so successful that in one centre two
weekly meetings have had to be held in order
to accommodate increased numbers.
National Institute for the Deaf.
The sixth Annual Report, for 1930, is an
interesting record of progress in the two-fold
work undertaken by the Institute, in the
general provision for the needs of the deaf,
and the creation or encouragement of institu-
tions for particular classes of the deaf, and
the help of individuals.
Information on deaf welfare throughout the
world is being collected by the Institute, and
with the knowledge thus obtained steps are
taken to improve the care of the deaf in this
country through the Regional Associations
which already cover a large part of England
and Scotland. Among the objects of the
BEACON
Institute are the prevention of deafness, the
inquiry into suitable forms of employment
for deaf persons and the encouragement of
lip-reading. It is hoped that a full inquiry
into the conditions of the deaf and the
establishment of a Government Committee
for their welfare mav be achieved in due
Societe Royale de Philanthropic de Bruxelles.
The Report (1929-30) of this Society,
which in addition to blindness deals with
various forms of physical disability, states
that the financial position of their Blind Home
is particularly satisfactory. 49 men, 70
women, and 30 girls are at present accom-
modated, and it is proposed to extend the
premises shortly in order to accommodate
20 more blind people and to provide a small
operating theatre, an isolation block, a room
for convalescents and a roof garden.
The Society has lately been supplying
special badges for the blind and these have
been found of great assistance to them in
getting about the streets.
Dorset County Association for the Blind.
The Association are very pleased to note
the result of the co-operative scheme with the
National Institute for the Blind, which has
increased last year's collection figures by £16
with a month's payment still to come. The
amount received by the Institution being
£290. A £200 grant by the County Council
for necessitous blind has been a tremendous
help towards the quarterly grants.
Wolverhampton, Dudley, and Districts
Institution for the Blind.
The Report for 1929-30 gives an interesting
statistical table, snowing very clearly the
growth of the work of the Institution since its
beginnings in 1874, when 53 blind persons
were visited in their homes, the total grants
paid amounted to £12, and the income of the
Society was £50 ; to-day there are 450
registered blind in the care of the Society,
nearly £3,000 is paid out in grants, and the
income of the Institution is £7,441. Wolver-
hampton, like many other industrial centres,
owes much of the support given to the Blind
Institution to the generosity of workers in
factory and foundry, and nearly £1,800 of its
last year's income is derived from this source.
Tasmanian Institution for the Blind, Deaf,
and Dumb.
The Report for 1929-30 mentions the
formation of a gymnastic class for the blind
workers in the Industrial Department, and
states that the innovation is much appreciated
by them. The commemoration of the Braille
centenary took the form of a rendering of
" The Hymn of Praise " by the Hobart
Philharmonic Society.
Sydney Industrial Blind Institute.
The Society reports a fairly successful year
which in view of the very general trade depres-
sion in Australia speaks well for the efficiency
and management of the organization. The
blind have been kept almost fully employed
and the subscription list has actually increased,
but more money is needed and an appeal has
been made which it is hoped will lead to a
substantial increase in the funds of the
Institution.
National Library for the Blind.
The Northern branch of the Library gives
an account of the lecture course on present
day international problems, elementary science,
musical appreciation, etc., with a considerably
increased attendance over other years. Among
the voluntary copyists of the Northern branch
mention is made of " a very active group of
schoolgirls who have taken up the task of
transcribing as their Toe H ' job.' "
Southampton Association for the Blind.
The Association reports a most satisfactory
year. The Appeal Committee has been
extremely successful in collecting £1,000 in
various ways, including a house-to-house
collection by a partially blind man,
organizing entertainments and voluntary sub-
scriptions from private individuals and firms.
Workshops for the Blind of Kent.
In the Annual Report for 1930, the Com-
mittee note with regret that the general trade
depression has been the cause of a drop of
£1,000 in sales value. The Committee, how-
ever, are confident that all difficulties will be
overcome with the help of a sympathetic
public in view of the real value of the work
being accomplished for the Blind.
page
101
BEACON
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND.
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MUSIC.
The prices of the following pieces of music are subject
to a reduction of three-quarters for the blind resident
in the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
The minimum price is 6d. per copy.
CHURCH— s. d.
10.663 Bach. Mighty Lord and King All
Glorious, Bass Air, from " Christmas
Oratorio," D; Ax— E1 2 0
10.664 Handel. With Honour Let Desert be
Crowned, Tenor Recit. and Air, from
"Judas Maccabaeus," A minor;
E— A1 2 0
ORGAN—
10.665 Bridge, Frank. Andante Moderato in C
minor ... ... ... ... ... 2 0
10.666 Chopin. Funeral March (arr. by W. T.
Best) 2 0
10.667 Guilmant. Finale in E flat (from
" Pieces in Different Styles," Book
10) 2 0
10.668 Karg-Elert. Gregorian Rhapsody, Op.
141, No. 2 ... " ... 2 0
PIANO—
10.669 Casella, A. Due Canzoni Popolari
Italiane ... ... ... 2 0
10.670 Chamberlain, Ronald. Two Pieces :
1, Prelude ; 2, Slow Dance 2 0
10.671 Cohen, Harriet. Russian Impressions
(Four Characteristic Pieces) ... ... 2 0
10.672 Craxton, Harold. Gavotte in E flat .. . 2 0
10.673 Dale, B. J. A Holiday Tune 2 0
10.674 Friml, Rudolf. Melodie Sentimentale,
Op. 36, No. 3 2 0
10.675 Froberger. Gigue and Sarabande (arr.
by Craxton and Moffat) ... ... 2 0
10.676 Glazounow. Prelude and Fugue in D
minor, Op. 62 3 0
10.677 Holbrooke. Valse Caprice (on " Three
Blind Mice ") 2 0
10.678 Jaques-Dalcroze. Children's Songs,
Book I, Nos. 1-3 2 0
10.679 McNaught, W. The Bird in Fennel's
Wood 2 0
DANCE—
10.680 Berlin, Irving. Reaching for the Moon,
Song- Waltz 2 0
10.681 Hupfeld, H. Sing Something Simple
(from " Folly to be Wise "), Song
Fox-Trot 2 0
10.682 Romberg, S. I Bring a Love Song
(from "Viennese Nights"), Song
Fox- Trot 2 0
10.683 Rose, P. de. When your Hair has
Turned to Silver, Song- Waltz ... 2 0
SONGS—
10.684 Bach. Song of Pan, Recit. and Air
from " Phcebusand Pan," A ; Ax— E1 2 0
10.685 Giordani, T. Caro Mio Ben (O, my
Belov'd), E flat ; D— F1 2 0
10.686 Goatley, A. Can't Remember, E flat ;
Bx— F1 2 0
10.687 Leoni Franco. Tally-Ho ' F ; E— F1... 2 0
10.688 Peel, Graham. The Early Morning, F ;
B!— F1 2 0
10.689 Peel, Graham. The Little Waves of
Breff ny, A flat ; C— F1 2 0
10.690 Whittaker, W. G. The Ship of Rio,
D; A,— E1 2 0
5. d.
10.691 Williams, Vaughan. " Boy Johnny "
and " If I were a Oueen," Low Voice ;
Bl~ El 2 0
10.692 Yon, P. A. Gesu Bambino (The Infant
Jesus), E ; Br— E1 2 0
BRAILLE BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per vol .
10,000-10,004 Abraham Lincoln, by Noah s. d.
Brooks. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 5 vols. F. 287 5 9
9,813-9,815 Autobiography of a Super- Tramp,
The, by W. H. Davies, Grade 2, Large
Size, Interpointed, Paper Covers,
3 vols. F. 194 6 6
9,915-9,916 Bambi, by Felix Salten. Grade
2, Large size, Interpointed, Paper
Covers, 2 vols. F. 95 5 0
9,626-9,629 Berrington, by Sir Edward A.
Parrv. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Cloth Boards, 4 vols. G. 272 8 6
9,760-9,761 Boys' and Girls' Life of Christ, A,
by Archdeacon Paterson Smyth.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 2 vols. F. 117 ... 6 0
9,877-9,880 Darkened Rooms, by Philip
Gibbs. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 4 vols. F. 214 5 6
Forsyte Saga, The, by John Galsworthy.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 13 vols.
7,491-7,494 Book 1, The Man of Property,
Vols. 1-4. F. 266 6 6
9,736-9,739 Book 2, In Chancery, Vols. 5-8.
F. 222 5 6
9,740-9,743 Book 3, To Let, Vols. 9-12.
F. 210 5 3
9,744 Interludes, Vol. 13. F. 59 6 0
10,612-10,620 Good Companions, The, by J.
B. Priestley. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 9 vols.
F. 557 6 3
9,801-9,807 Harry Lorrequer, by Chas Lever.
Grade 2, Large Size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 7 vols. F. 435 ... 6 3
9,866-9,870 House of Fear, The, by Robert
W. Service. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 5 vols.
F. 289 5 9
9,832-9,834 Island of Captain Sparrow, The,
by S. Fowler Wright. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers,
3 vols. F. 155 5 3
9,881-9,882 Island Nights' Entertainment,
by R. L. Stevenson. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers, 2
vols. F. 103 5 3
9,918-9,921 Nada the Lily, by Rider Haggard.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 4 vols. F. 249 ... 6 3
9,871-9,876 Old Mortality, by Sir Walter
Scott. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 6 vols. F. 370 6 3
9,822-9,827 Ovington's Bank, by Stanley J.
Weyman. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 6 vols. F. 337 5 9
9,985-9,987 Rewards and Fairies, by Rudyard
Kipling. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 3 vols. F. 168 5 9
9,917 Rose and the Ring, The, by Thackeray.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Cloth Boards. G. 70 8 9
PAGE
102
BEACON
-10.05S Saki's Bowl, by Robert Blatch- s. d.
ford. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
polated, Paper Covers, 3 vols. F. 162 6 3
-10,040 Saracincsca, by F, Marion Craw-
ford. Grade 2, Large size. Inter-
pointed, Cloth Boards, 5 vols. G. 337 8 6
-0,817 Selections from "The Natural
History of Selbourne," by Rev. G.
White. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 2 vols. F. 125 6 3
-9,989 Shallow End, The, by Ian Hay.
Grade 2, Large size, Interlined, Cloth
Boards, 2 vols. G. 142 8 9
9,624 Short History of Western Civilis-
ation, A, by Alan F. Hatterslev.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpolated,
Cloth Boards, 2 vols. G 162 ... !) 9
0,831 2 LO, by Walter S. Masterman.
Grade 2, Large Size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 3 vols. F. 160 ... 5 0
0,755 Viaduct Murder, The, by Ronald
A. Knox. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 3 vols. F. 137 4 9
0,796 Welsh Singer, A, by Allen Raine.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 4 vols. F. 241 ... (i 0
10,071 White Fang, by Jack London.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 3 vols. F. 163 ... 5 0
Map of India. Rivers and Towns ... 0 9
Map of India. Rivers and Mountains 0 9
Map of North America. Rivers and
Towns ... ... ... ... ... ( ) ! >
Map of North America. Rivers and
Mountains ... ... ... ... o 9
Map of Europe. Rivers and Towns ... 0 9
Map of Europe. Rivers and Mountains 0 II
Guides to Maps of India. Grade 2,
Intermediate size, Interlined, Stiff
Covers. B. 15 3 0
8.253 Guides to Maps of North America.
Grade 2, Intermediate size, Inter-
lined, Stiff Covers. B. 17 3 (I
5.254 Guides to Maps of Europe, tirade 2,
Intermediate size, Interlined, Stiff
Covers. B. 17 3 0
MOON BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per vol .
3,044-3,055 Fane Evre, by Charlotte Bronte, s. (/.
12 vols. (Limited Edition) 12 0
3,056-3,058 Madame Luxuron, by Robert
Kerr Kennedv, 3 vols. (Limited
Edition) 12 0
'J
0
233
234
239
9
240
0
211
242
250
NATIONAL INSTITUTE STUDENTS' LIBRARY.
ADDITIONS.
BIOGRAPHY. Vo.
Wotton, Sir Heary ; by Izaak Walton ...
Yeats, W. B. : by Forrest Reid
HISTORY.
Bury, J. B.
Barbarians
Motley, J. L.
Stubbs, W. Selected Charters
LAW.
Holdsworth, W.
(Extracts)
MISCELLANEOUS.
Lawrence, D. H. Sea and Sardinia
MODERN LANGUAGES.
Racine ; Bajazct ...
Invasion of Europe by the
William the Silent
S. History of English haw
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE.
Muir, Ramsay ; Political Consequences (
( ireat War
Stoddard, L. Revolt against Civilization
SCIENCE.
Caspari, W. A. Structure of Matter
Jeans, Sir J. The Mysterious Fnivcrse
McKendrick, J. G. Principles of Physioh
THEOLOGY AND RELIGIONS.
Fosdick, H. E. Twelve Tests of Character
NATIONALINSTITUTEMUSICSTUDENTS' LIBRARY.
ADDITIONS.
ORGAN.
Hopkins, E. J. Select Organ Movements, Bk. 1 (120).
Hopkins and Smart. Select Organ Movements 1121;.
WTidor. Organ Svmphony, No. 2, in D (122).
No. 5, in F (123).
Smart. H. Grand Solemn March in E flat (124).
Postlude in E flat (125).
A Three-Part Study (No. 27 "Original
Compositions") (126).
Schumann. Finale from an Overture, Scherzo and
Finale, Op. 52 (arr. by W. T. Best) (127).
Parry, C. H. Hubert. "Choral Prelude on "Croft's
136th " (128).
COMMUNION SERVICES.
Garrett in A (129).
Stainer in E flat (Service No. 1) (130).
Maunder in F (131).
Kin- Hal! in C (132).
EMBOSSED PERIODICALS.
Published by the National Institute for the Blind.
Those marked with an asterisk (*) are published by
the Institute for customers ; the remainder are owned
bv the Institute. After the name of each periodical,
the date of publication, the price per copy and the
annual subscription (including postage) are given.
BRAILLE.
Braille Mail, Friday, lid., 6/6. The week's news
arranged in sections — home, foreign, etc. — and
selected " leaders."
Braille Musical Magazine, Monthly, 20th, 6d., 6/-.
Deals with all matters of interest to blind musicians
and tuners.
Braille Packet, Monthly, 12th, 7/6 per annum,
11/6 overseas. General articles, chiefly political.
Braille Radio Times, Friday, lid., 6/6. Resume of all
programmes broadcast from B.B.C. stations, with
technical and general supplements.
Channels of Blessing, Bi-monthly from February, 6£d.
Devotional magazine. Supplement for Sunday
School Teachers.
Light Bringer, Quarterly from March, Free. Theoso-
phical magazine.
Literary Journal, Monthly, 10th, 1/-, 11/6. Literary,
scientific, artistic and political review.
Massage Journal, Monthly, loth, 6d., 6/-. Devoted to
professional interests of qualified masseurs and
masseuses.
Progress, Monthly, 1st, old.. 5/6. Popular magazine,
general articles, fiction, matters of the moment,
prize competitions, correspondence, chess, home
supplement.
Punch, Monthly, 5th, 6-J-d., 6/6. Selections from each
weekly issue of " Punch," descriptions of cartoons
and pictures.
School Magazine, Monthly, 15th, 3id., 3/6. Reading
matter for schools. ' Instructive and amusing.
Compactions. Supplement " Comrades " in Grade I
Braille.
Seeker, Quarterly from January, Free. Christian
Mj'sticism and Comparative Religion.
PAGE
103
BEACON
■Tribune, Monthly, 25th, 9d.. 8/-. General and
Official Organ of the National Union of the Profes-
sional and Industrial Blind.
Venture, Monthly, 15th, lid., 1/6. Notes and articles
of interest to Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. (Produced
by the Institute in conjunction with the Girl Guides
and Boy Scouts Associations.)
* Weekly Summary, Wednesday. 2d., 8/8. Short
summary of the world's news.
MOON.
"Lutheran HeraliS, Quarterly, tree. Lutheran devo-
tional magazine.
Moon Newspaper, Wednesday, I'd.. 8/8. A resume of
the world's news under Countries, with American
Supplement. News of the Blind World.
Moon Magazine, Monthly, 1st. 9£d., 9/6. Short
articles, light fiction, humour.
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND
ADDITIONS MARCH, 1931.
FICTION. v0is.
Austen, jane. Sanditon ... ... ... ... ■>
Benson, E. F. Miss Mapp 4
Best Short Stories of 1927. Edited by E [
O'Brien ... 5
Buchan, John. Courts of the Morning ... 7
Carr, J. Dickson. It walks bv night ... ... 5
Corelli, Marie. Sorrows of Satan ... s
Deeping, Warwick. Exiles ... ... ... (i
de la Roche, Mazo. Whiteoaks ... ... <;
Francis, M. E. and M. Blundell. Wood Sanctuary 3
Galsworthy, J. On Forsyte 'Change 4
Garstin, Crosbie. West Wind ... ... ... 6
Hudson, J. L. Tall Chimneys 4
Hughes, J. S. Ordeal by Air 3
Jacobs, W. W. Ship's Companv 3
La Farge, O. Laughing Boy ' 3
Larminie, Margaret K. Galatea li
Mason, A. E. W. Dean's Elbow :{
Nichols, B. Prelude ... ... ... ... ;i
Sherrifi, K. C. and Vernon Bartlett. Journey's
End ... ... ... ... ... ... 4
Stern, G. B. Debonair ... ... ... ... 5
Tynan, K. Fine Gentleman ... ... ... 4
Vates, Dornford. Fire Below ... ... ... 4
Venner, N. Gay Tradition ... ... ... 4
Wallace, Edgar. Double ... ... ... 4
Wallace, Edgar. Flat 2 ... ... ... ... 3
Walpole, Hugh. Jeremy at Crale ... ... 4
Wren, P. C. Soldiers of Misfortune ... ... 7
MISCELLANEOUS.
Bayley, G. B. and Coxwain \\ . Adair s. Seamen
of the Downs ... ... ... ... ... 4
Bell, Gertrude. Persian Pictures
Bowen, Marjorie. Sundry Great Gentleman. -
(Some Essays in Historical Biography) ... 5
Chesterton, Mrs. Cecil, St. Teresa 3
Gwynn, D. Cardinal Wiseman ... 5
Haldane, J. B. S. Daedalus, or Science and the
Future. (A Paper read to the Heretics
Cambridge. February, 192:j) ... ... 1
j Haldane, J B. S. Science and Ethics ... ... ]
-J Murray, G. Stoic Philosophy (Conway Men'
{ orial Lectures)
Hume, M. Court of Philip IV. (Spain in
decadence) ... ... ... 8
Inchfawn, Fay. Adventure of a Horn ly
Woman ... ... ... ... ... 4
Jones, E. S. Christ of Every Road ... ... 3
McFee, W. North of Suez ... ... ... 5
Mitchison, Naomi. Anna Comnena (1083-1148)
(Representative Women Series) ... ... 1
Ring, Ann?. Story of Princess Eli zabeth ... 1
Russell, B. Icarus, or the futnr of Science ... 1
Russell, B. Initiate . Some impressions ol ;i
Great Soul 5
Selected English Essays. Peacock
Thomas, Lowell. Bevond Khyber Pass
Williamson, H. Lone Swallows
Woolf, Virginia. Room of One's Own ...
JUVENILE.
Sowerby, Githa. Little Stories for Little
People
Westerman. P. T. Mystery of the Broads
GRADE I.
Lang, Jeannie. Stories from the Odyssey told
to the Children ...
GRADE III.
Pixley, Olive C. B. Listening in
ESPERANTO.
Babits, M. Cikoni-Kalifo
Bogdanov, A. Ruga Stelo
Conscience, Hendrik. La Leono de Flandrujo ...
Jaumotte. M. Belga Antologio ; Franca Parto
Vols.
9
3
2
2
ADVERT1SEMINTS
HELEN KELLER in " My Religion " says of SWED-
ENBORG, His message "has travelled" like light."
Swedenborg's " Heavenly Doctrine " and " God the
Creator,'' in Braille, 2/6 each volume. Order from
Swedenborg Society (Inc.), 20, Hart Street, London,
W.C.I.
WORKSHOP INSTRUCTRESS, SIGHTED, trained
basket-maker, desires post London or district. Certifi-
cated College of Teachers of Blind, honours craft and
Braille. Other employment entertained.
" Beta," c/o New Beacon, 224, Great Portland
Street, W.I.
WANTED LADY SUPERINTENDENT FOR BLIND
SCHOOL IN CYPRUS.
Small school for the Blind in Cyprus requires English-
woman with initiative and energy to act as Superin-
tendent Housekeeper and teach English, Braille,
Basket making, drilling, games, etc. Applicants should
be prepared to stay lor two or three years, to learn
modern Greek and should have had experience in a
blind school. Salary offered £100-£120 per annum,
together with living expenses at the school and
passage. Apply in writing with full details of qualifica-
tions and experience and copies of testimonials to the
Secretary- General, National Institute for the Blind,
224, Great Portland Street, London, W.J.
CITY OF WAKEFIELD.
Applications are invited for the post of Secretary
Home Teacher to take charge of and administer the
Council's Scheme for the Welfare of the Blind.
Applicants, who should be under 40 years of age,
must be certified Home Teachers with administrative
and general experience of blind welfare work, including
some knowledge of the management of a Flome Work-
ers' Scheme and experience in marketing the goods
produced. Salary rising from £230 to £260, Grade B2,
if male, and rising from £200 to £210, Grade D, if
female.
Applications, giving detailed particulars of experi-
ence, with copies of three recent testimonials should be
addressed to me not later than 22nd April, 1931.
There is a possibility of the post becoming designated
under the Corporation's Superannuation Scheme.
A. C. ALL! BONE,
Town Clerk.
Printed L»y Smiths' Printii,,
irany 'London & St. Albans), Ltd., 22-14, Fett
i.oml'
^^TficZNcw
BEACON
A MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF THE BLIND
Vol. XV.-No. 173.
MAY 15th, 1931.
Price 3d.
3S. PER ANNUM, POST FREE.
Entered as Second Class Matter, March 15, 1929, at the Post Office at Boston, Mass., under the Act of March 3, 1879 {Sec. 397, P.L. and R.)
WORK FOR THE BLIND IN DENMARK.
THERE are few European countries which have a record of work done for the
blind more honourable than that of Denmark. The State and private
enterprise have combined over a period of many years to care very adequately
for the education, training, employment and general welfare of its blind
population of about 1,800 persons.
Interest in the welfare of the blind goes back at least 120 years, when
the Society known as The Chain (which is believed to have had its origin in
one of the Guilds of the Middle Ages) decided to include work for the sightless among its
activities, and founded the first Danish Institution for the Blind, which was taken over nearly
fifty years later by the Government.
Prevention of Blindness. The Danish Society for the Blind reports that owing to the care
taken of new-born children, infantile ophthalmia is greatly decreasing, and we are told that
between 1912 and 1928 only two of the children admitted to the Royal Danish Institute were
cases of such blindness. The National Board of Health has for some years past made the use
of nitrate of silver obligatory by midwives, whose training is carefully supervised by the Ministry
of Education.
Education. Since 1858 education in Denmark has been compulsory, and since 1926 the
blind child has been specifically included in the provisions made. School attendance is not,
however, insisted on if the parents are able to prove to the satisfaction of the Education authority
that they have both the means and the will to educate their child at home. The period of
education extends normally from the age of eight to eighteen, but it may begin at the age of six,
especially in cases where parents do not appear to be able to give their blind child adequate
training and care. The cost of education is borne by the parent if he is in a position to afford
it, but where this is not possible, a part or the whole of the expense involved may be assumed
by the public authority.
Since 1898 there has been a school for younger children, ranging in age from 7 to 12, at
Refsnaes in North Zealand ; Refsnaes is on the coast, and is a particularly healthy place, where
the delicate child from a poor home has every chance of growing strong in conditions that are
particularly favourable, great stress being laid on physical development, remedial gymnastics,
and sea-bathing. At Refsnaes, too, there is a special department for mentally backward blind
BEACON
girls, who remain there till they are 18 or 19,
and are then transferred to a Home for
Unemployable Blind Women, where they
may remain for the rest of their lives.
At the age of 1 1 , the normal child is trans-
ferred from the preparatory school at Refsnaes
to the Royal Institution for the Blind at
Copenhagen, where for four years his general
education is on the lines of that given to the
seeing pupil. Braille books are of course
used, but much of the teaching given is oral,
and visiting masters and mistresses from
schools for the seeing are employed, in order
that the blind child's education shall as far
as possible resemble that of the sighted. At
the end of the four years the specially gifted
blind child may be considered suitable for
higher education, but for the average boy or
girl manual training is judged most suitable.
Training. The trades taught are similar to
those followed in English institutions, and
include brush-making, basket-making, piano
tuning, mattress-making, and boot-making for
men, and hand or machine-knitting for
women. The cost of training is generally
divided between the State and the local
authority in cases where the blind person and
his friends are not in a position to pay. An
apprenticeship scheme is favoured for the
adult trainee, who is usually placed with an
individual employer for a period of one, two,
or three years.
A number of blind people receive musical
training, and this is particularly thorough,
and extends over several years, usually ending
at the age of about 22 with an examination
for the organist's diploma ; many find employ-
ment at its close as Church organists and
teachers of music. Training in pianoforte
tuning begins at the Institute at Copenhagen,
but ends with a year's practical work in a
piano-factory.
Employment. At the end of his training,
the pupil is generally provided with tools for
his trade, and with a complete outfit of clothing
which should last him about three years.
Capital is given in certain cases to help the
blind worker to set up in business, and there
is a depot for the sale of his goods, which is
State-aided.
In 1929, all the Associations concerned
with blind welfare formed themselves into a
body for the purpose of unifying their work
especially in relation to the employment of
the blind. Under their auspices Workshops
are carried on at Copenhagen and at Aalborg,
and retail shops sell both the products of the
workshops and those made by home-workers.
Special efforts are made to secure orders
from public bodies and from hospitals as well
as from private customers.
General Welfare. The fact that the blind
person is handicapped by reason of his
blindness, however industrious and capable
he may be, has long been recognised in
Denmark, and a paper read at the Inter-
national Conference held in London seventeen
years ago, which speaks of free railway passes,
augmentation of wages, and an amendment
of the Poor Law in favour of the blind shows
that a progressive outlook is nothing new.
In 191 1, just a hundred years after The
Chain had begun its work on behalf of the
blind, at a meeting held to celebrate the
centenary of this event, The Danish Blind
Association was formed to unite all the blind
of Denmark for their common good, and
especially in an effort to secure State aid. One
of the first pieces of work undertaken by the
Association was the reform of the Poor Law
relating to the blind, and in 1914 it was
successful in removing from them the stigma
of Poor Law relief. Seven years later, the
legal right of the blind to public assistance
was recognised in the law dealing with Health
Insurance which gives to all those whose
capacity for work is reduced through physical
disability an annual grant of 500 crowns,
provided their earning capacity is only 50 per
cent, of the normal.
A Dutchman's Impressions of Blind
Welfare Work.
In " De Blinde Mens " Mr. C. J. Vos, of
the Dutch Society for the Welfare of the
Blind has gathered up his impressions of work
done for the blind in England, Germany, and
Switzerland ; he has visited many of the
principal Institutions in each of the three
countries named, so has been able to write of
them at first-hand. His book is illustrated
with several attractive photographs, and the
bibliography given at the end shows that he
has read widely.
The various chapters of the books deal in
detail with the definitions of blindness accepted
in varying countries, with the physical and
psychological results of the blindness, with
the education of the blind child, with employ-
ment in blind workshops and in " sighted "
PAGE
106
BEACON
factories, and with the economic position of
the blind. The whole problem of blind
welfare is thus discussed, the solutions arrived
at by the various countries described, and
the author in conclusion sums up the position,
and makes suggestions for the well-being of
the blind in his own country as a result of his
investigations.
He urges that a Central Committee, con-
sisting of Government officials, and repre-
sentatives of the various Dutch Institutions
together with an expert on ophthalmology,
should be set up to consider blind welfare.
Such a Committee should undertake the
purchase of raw materials, set up a central
warehouse for stocking and selling the finished
products of the blind, and have under its
control an Inspector who should visit
Institutions and also " seek out " the blind
living in their own homes. A Home Teaching
scheme rather on the lines of that in this
country is advocated.
A BRAILLE ENGLISH DICTIONARY.
What are the Requirements?
THE Publications Committee
of the National Institute for
the Blind has recently been
considering the publication
of a concise and up-to-date
dictionary of the English
language in Braille. The
great difficulty is, of course, the large number
of volumes which even the most concise
dictionary would occupy. It is estimated
that the " Little Oxford Dictionary," an
exceedingly valuable epitome of the Oxford
Dictionary, would fill 17 or 18 large volumes
published in Braille. As this would be an
expensive work to undertake, the Publications
Committee is desirous of finding out whether
there is a real need for a dictionary.
It should be borne in mind that there are
several ways of producing a new dictionary in
Braille. Should it be merely a guide to
spelling, or just a list of words with their
meanings, or a complete dictionary, that is,
giving the pronunciation and derivation of
every word ?
One opinion is that the dictionary should
be kept as simple as possible, since any
complete system of accent signs would render
the dictionary so involved and complicated
as almost to defeat its own object as a book of
reference, while any partial system would
necessarily entail the defects of a compromise.
Another opinion is that the dictionary should
be a complete and standard work of reference
on spelling, definition, pronunciation,
derivation, etc.
Three methods of arrangement have been
suggested.
The first method is that the root word be
first written in contracted form, immediately
followed (in square brackets) by its Grade I
substitution, the vowels being treated with
their various signs as in the letterpress copy,
the stress (dot 6) preceding the vowel of the
accented syllable, instead of following the
syllable as in the print. The parts of speech,
meanings, etc., remain unaltered.
The only variation of the second method
from the first method, is that the stress (dot 6)
precedes the stressed or accented syllable,
instead of being placed before the vowel of
the syllable.
In the third method there is no guidance
as to pronunciation, or division into syllables.
Finally there is the idea of a simple spelling
book, giving the word alone without any
meaning.
The Editor would be very glad to hear from
Institutions, Schools and Libraries for the
Blind, firstly as to whether they would
consider the purchase of : —
(a) A full Dictionary running to about 18
large volumes, at about 9s. each, or less
the discount allowed, 3s. each.
(b) A Dictionary of words with meanings
only, running to 6 or 7 volumes, or
(c) A Spelling Book running to 1 or 2
volumes.
Secondly, as to their opinions of the
methods of arrangement, suggested above.
It should be noted that if a full dictionary
is put in hand, the volumes would be issued
as completed, possibly one every six months.
The Committee also desires to ascertain
the demand for Braille editions of " Practical
English" and "Advanced English" by
C. F. Allan, and " Groundwork in French,"
by A. W. Green.
PAGE
107
BEACON
HOME NEWS
Official Opening of Home for Blind Babies at East Grinstead.
" Sunshine House," East Grinstead, will be officially opened on May 18th, at 3 p.m.,
by the Lady Adelaide Colville, the Dedication Service being conducted by the Rev.
Canon C. E. Bolam, Hon. Chief Chaplain to the National Institute for the Blind. This
Blind Babies' Home takes the place of the parent Home at Chorley Wood, Herts., which
was destroyed by fire two years ago. The babies were temporary accommodated at
" Court Grange," Abbotskerswell, but were removed to East Grinstead just before
Christmas. " Court Grange " is now being prepared as a Home for the Mentally
Retarded Blind.
The Blind and Broadcast Running Commentaries of Sporting Events.
Owing to the report that there was a possibility of the curtailment of the broadcast
running commentaries of sporting events, resolutions have been passed by the National
Institute for the Blind, St. Dunstan's, the British Wireless for the Blind Fund and the
National Union of the Professional and Industrial Blind expressing the hope that the
B.B.C. will continue the weekly commentaries of sporting events, because of the very
large number of blind people who appreciate them. Copies of the resolutions have
been sent to the B.B.C. who, in acknowledging the letter from the National Institute,
state that they are doing everything possible to counter anti-broadcasting influences.
National Baby Week.
The National Baby Week Council this year urges that special attention should be
given to the following problems : — (a) The physical, mental and spiritual care of the
child from 1 to 5 years of age ; (b) A National Maternity Service Scheme. National
Baby Week is from July 1st to 7th. A National Conference, organised by the National
Association for the Prevention of Infant Mortality is to take place at Cardiff on July 1st,
2nd and 3rd, and is to discuss : — (a) An effective Maternity Service for the whole popu-
lation ; (/;) The physical health of the normal child from 1 to 5 years of age ; (c) The
mental health of the normal child from 1 to 5 years of age ; (d) Children in institutions
and boarded-out children.
A big display of propaganda films is being organised by the Council to take place
at Kingsway Hall, London, on Monday, July 6th, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Admission
by free tickets, for which application should be made to the National Baby Week Council,
117, Piccadilly, London, W.r.
Dinner to the Prince of Wales as President of the Wireless Fund.
II.R.H. the Prince of Wales, as President of the British Wireless for the Blind Fund,
will be entertained at dinner on May 27th by the Company of Clothworkers at the Cloth-
workers' Hall, Mincing Lane. His speech will be broadcast on the National wavelength.
Amongst those who have already accepted invitations to be present are the following: —
The Lord Mayor, Baron Albert Profumo, Capt. Sir Beachcroft Towse, V.C., Capt. Ian
Fraser, the Rt'. Hon. Winston Churchill, M.P., the Rt. Hon. J. H. Whitley, Sir Hugo
Hirst, Bart., Sir Robert Waley Cohen, Sir Felix Schuster, Bart., Sir William R. Morris,
Bart., Sir Herbert Austin, the Hon. Sir Arthur Stanley, Sir Edward Stern, Bart., Sir
Thomas Horder, Bart., Sir Lionel E. Darell, Bart., Sir Albert Levy, Sir Max Bonn, Sir
Francis W. Goodenough, the Rt. Rev. John Love Morrow, Mr. S. H. Whitbread, Capt.
Victor A. Cazalet, M.P., Mr. J. S. Elias, the Rev. Pat McCormick, the Rev. H. L. Johnston,
Mr. Maurice Browne, Wing Commander Louis Greig, Mr. E. V. Lucas, Mr. T. H. Dey,
Mr. Harry Preston, Sir Herbert Cary, Sir William Noble, Colonel W'yndham Portal,
Vice Admiral C. D. Carpendale, Mr. Edward Baron, SirP.Reckitt, Bart., the Rt. Hon.C. A.
McCurdy, Mr. G. F. Mowatt, Sir Gerald du Maurier, the Earl of Balfour, Lord
Blanesburgh.
PAGE
108
BEACON
Formation of New Belfast Association.
An organisation known as the Belfast Blind Persons' Welfare Association has been
formed for the purpose of looking after the interests of the unemployed and unemployable
blind persons in Belfast. There are almost nine hundred blind persons in the city.
The Association proposes erecting a clubroom in a central position in the city for
concerts and social evenings, and where the blind can have newspapers read to them by
sighted friends.
Councillor Mrs. Coleman, P.L.G., 220, Donegall Road, Belfast, has consented to act
as hon. treasurer, and to her all donations and subscriptions should be forwarded.
Hull Institute's Arrangement with Trawler Owners.
Promoted by the trawler owners a scheme has been brought into operation at the
Hull and East Riding Institute for the Blind for the training of selected disabled fishermen.
It was originally intended by the representatives of the fishing industry to erect their own
workshops and they inspected the Lord Robert's Memorial workshops with the object
of obtaining information, but when it was pointed out to them that their proposal would
interfere with the activities of between 20 and 30 blind people who for a considerable
time have been engaged in basket work and have supplied approximately 60 per cent, of
the requirements of the industry, they reconsidered the matter and effected an arrangement
whereby disabled fishermen will be given employment on this work at the Blind Institute.
The trawler owners on their part have agreed to place the whole of their orders in future
for landing baskets with the Institute. The orders represent as many as 1,200 baskets
in a month and about a thousand dozen annually.
FOREIGN NEWS
Eye Specialist Loses his Sight.
After having saved the sight of hundreds of his patients during his career as an eye
specialist in New York, Dr. James A. McTiernan, of Middlebury, Vermont, is now
totally blind, says the British United Press.
Dr. McTiernan lost his sight in a motorcar accident when his car overturned in a
ditch. Pieces of the windscreen entered his eyes, and doctors state that there is no
chance of his ever recovering his sight.
Blind Man Recovers Sight After Twenty-Two Years.
Earl Musselman, a young man of Philadelphia, who was born blind, has been given
the use of his eyes as the result of an operation. For 22 years he has lived in darkness,
but now he can see through the skill of Dr. G. H. Moore, a surgeon of the Graduate
Hospital in Philadelphia, who operated upon him to create pupils in the eyes, says a
British United Press message from Philadelphia.
" I was completely fooled," said Mr. Musselman, in an interview. " Besides all
the things of which I had wrong impressions, there are so many things of which I had
absolutely no conception, such as the way bricks are set in a wall, the way one colour
differs from another, and one shade blends into another. It is all wonderful."
To Aid the Jewish Blind.
In connection with the International Conference at New York, an American Jewish
Braille Institute for assisting the cultural and religious needs of the Jewish Blind has been
organised. The Institute will publish a monthly magazine for free distribution among
English-speaking Jewish Blind all over the world. The Institute will adopt the inter-
national Braille code and will supply Hebrew literature in that system, adopting also the
Moon system for Yiddish for elderly Yiddish-speaking Blind who cannot learn the com-
plicated Braille.
In New York there are 1,050 Jewish blind, while all over the world there are 7,500
to 8,000 Jewish blind, according to Dr. Siegfried Altman, the Director of the Jewish
Institute for the Blind in Vienna, who attended the Conference.
PAGE
109
BEACON
READING MATERIAL IN CLEAR
TYPE.
w
HAT is everybody's busi-
ness," runs an old saying,
" is nobody's business."
It is a proverb that must
often be in the mind of
the social worker, especi-
ally when he has to deal
with those cases of " double defect," where,
for instance, because a child is both paralysed
and epileptic no Home for cripples will take
him on account of his epilepsy, and no Home
for epileptics on account of his paralysis. The
child with defective sight is rather in the same
boat ; he is not blind, and therefore does not
come within the scope of the organisation for
blind welfare, but his sight is not normal, and
he cannot therefore be treated like the fully-
sighted.
There are, of course, many degrees of
short-sightedness, from the person whose
vision can be so corrected by glasses as to
become normal, down to the person who is
so blind as to be unable to read the ordinary
school-book and is certifiable under the
Board of Education definition. The child in
a myope school is generally one whose eyeball
is too long to permit the proper focussing of
parallel rays of light on the retina, and the
walls of whose globes are weak and thin.
For such children to read the school-books
in common use is dangerous, and may result
in blindness.
It is not, however, usually thought desirable
to teach these children Braille, as the child
with any sight almost invariably uses that
sight to peer at his Braille type unless he is
closely supervised, and he is generally
therefore taught to read print. It is usual for
the " reading book " to be home-made, con-
sisting of large sheets of unglazed paper,
printed by means of wooden block letters
with a half-inch body ; these letters are
individually pressed on to an inked pad and
then stamped on to the sheets, which, when
complete, are pinned on to the wall at a
proper distance and height from the reader.
The making of these sheets is generally the
work of the teacher, sometimes helped by the
children and is naturally a desperately slow
business.
For the very tiny child there are books in
such series as Blackie's " Easy to Read "
PAGE
no
24-point type, and those of us who remember
our own thrill over " Ann and her Pup " or
that one-page story beginning " I am in.
Go on " with its intriguing illustration of a
small boy in a soap-box on wheels, will
realise that in the very early stages this is
sufficient. But to teach a child to read print,
and then to be able to offer him nothing more
than an Infant Reader is surely almost worse
than not to teach him to read at all. Of
course there are some children whose sight is
normal who do not choose to read, and
frankly on leaving school close their books for
ever, but they are surely in a small minority,
so long as they have been intelligently
taught ; and it is almost inevitable that the
child who has the smallest taste for reading
will not be deterred out of school hours by
the fear that reading ordinary print may
injure his sight, and may even resort to
reading his " comic " under the table if
parental authority is sufficiently strong to
prevent his reading it in full daylight.
It is the realisation of all this that is
responsible for the Clear Type Publishing
Company in America. This Company,
which is in very close touch with the 350
Sight Saving Classes in the States, produces
books on deep cream unglazed paper in
24-point (a very few in 36-point). They
include readers for six grades, " Stories of
King Arthur," " The King of the Golden
River," " Tales and Ballads from Scottish
History," " Readings from Walter Scott,"
" Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare," in the
general literature section ; " The History of
the American People," " Our Ancestors in
Europe," " North America," " The Human
Geography," and " Arithmetical Problems,"
in other sections.
Some myope classes in England have
already availed themselves of these books,
but except in the section dealing with general
literature and fiction only a very few are
suitable for the English school-child, and
they are naturally very expensive, especially
when the cost of carriage from America is
involved. Exclusive of postage " Treasure
Island " costs rather over £2, " Ivanhoe "
(slightly abridged) about £3, " The King of
the Golden River " about 7s.
BEACON
An extract from a very interesting letter on
the subject from the President of the Clear
Type Publishing Company may show how the
matter of expense was met in America : —
" The Committee arranged with job
printers to publish a book, and I arranged
with the Boards of Education to take a certain
share of them. We got two or three business
men to advance the small capital required and
gradually enlarged our activities. As other
cities in the United States opened classes they
joined our group of customers, first making
definite pledges to buy a certain number of
copies of books before they were printed and
later simply promising to do the best they
could in the way of making purchases during
the following year. In time we paid back the
money we borrowed from our financial
supporters, and worked up a small revolving
fund which keeps our work going."
In the myope classes noted in the English
Board of Education List of Certified Schools
for 1930 there is accommodation for nearly
two thousand children. While some of these
classes are already making use of the Reading
Books of the Clear Type series, the importing
of the books is a serious matter, and in any
case, as we have said, the subject matter is in
only a limited degree suitable for the English
reader. Cannot something then be done in
this country to meet what appears to be a
real need ?
In conclusion, it may be noted that apart
altogether from the school-child, there appears
to be a need for clear-type books for the
adult reader, which is being met in the
United States by a commercial publishing
firm. The William Bradford Press, 207,
2:5th Street, New York, are building up a
Big Type Library for the use of persons who
find ink type of the ordinary size rather
trying ; books in type of about the same size
as 14 point are produced and are sold for
10 cents a copy ; " Lord Chesterfield to his
Son," " Six Weeks in the Life of Samuel
Pepys," " The Ancient Mariner," and Emer-
son's " Napoleon, the Man of the World,"
are among the titles quoted in a short note
on the books in the American " Outlook for
the Blind."
Evidently there is something to be done,
and we should welcome the views of our
readers on how best to do it. To hand the
key of a library to a child and to forbid him
to enter in is both foolish and cruel ; surely
there must be some better way.
RECENT
PUBLICATIONS
Cheerful Verses.
We have received " Anecdotes, etc." a little
volume of verse by W. M. Sherman, a blind
man. Mr. Sherman, who is eighty-three
years of age, spent his early life in India, where
he had many adventures. He has not let his
blindness embitter his outlook, which is
consistently cheerful.
Price List of Blind-Made Goods.
" Buy from the Blind," the newly issued
illustrated price list of the Home Industries
Department of the National Institute for the
Blind, is very attractively set-out, and covers
a wide field. Brooms and brushes, soiled
linen baskets, garden chairs, hosiery, mats
and rugs, all kinds of children's knitted wear,
workbaskets and trays are included in its
pages. In a prefatory note the prospective
customer is given a short account of the Home
Workers' Scheme, which gives occupation to
270 workers in London south of the Thames,
in Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire, and
is reminded that the work can only be main-
tained and extended with the constant help
of the general public ; if this declines the
blind worker " must return to an uncertain
and spasmodic condition " like that which
existed before the Scheme came into opera-
tion, when the rural worker struggled in
isolation, with no scope, no prospects and
little knowledge.
DIARY OF EVENTS.
Notices of Annual Meetings and important Committee
Meetings are inserted in The New Beacon as space
permits. Secretaries are requested to send intimations
to the Editor not later than the 3rd of the month for
insertion in the next issue.
May 15th. Northern Counties Association for the
Blind — Special Sub-Committee on the Partially
Blind, also Sub-Committee on the Mentally Defective
and Sub-Normal Blind.
May 20th. Executive Committee, Union of Counties
Associations.
June 3rd. Northern Counties Association for the Blind
— Annual Meeting at the Guildhall, Hull, 11.15 a.m.
and 2.30 p.m. Delegates will be invited to pay a
visit to the Hull Workshops for the Blind on June
2nd and June 4th.
June 4th. 2 p.m. N. LB. General Purposes Committee.
June 10th. 2.30 p.m. NIB. Education and Research
Committee.
June 13th. 2.30 p.m. Annual Meeting, College of
Teachers, Armitage Hall, 224, Great Portland
Street, W.l.
June 19th. 2.30 p.m. N. IB. Finance Committee.
June 24th 25th. Annual Meeting, Union of Counties
Associations.
PAGE
III
BEACON
MILTON'S BLINDNESS
By F. LE GROS CLARK.
I SEEM to have noticed in The New
Beacon more than one article on
Milton. That is natural. Milton was
not only blind, but he referred
constantly to his blindness, sometimes
in direct terms but more often, I
think, obliquely and half-consciously.
For example, it is possible to read the
description of Hell in " Paradise Lost " with
the recollection that it was written by a
blind man — and moreover by one whose
particular affection of the eyes produced
curious sensations. Some medical men have
recently been speculating that Milton's
blindness was caused by a gradual detach-
ment of the retina. As far as I am competent
to judge, there seems good evidence for this.
The poet himself, in a fairly precise letter,
describes his internal sensations. He says
that he experienced a strange luminosity
within the eye itself, even at night. It has
occurred to me that he may have been vaguely
thinking of this when he described Hell as
" darkness visible." That seems just the
sensation one has. It is not light of any use
to one — but rather is it a baffling murky
light, persisting through the twenty-four
hours and at times appearing to take on forms
that resemble shadows of reality.
Again, it would be advantageous to read
through " Paradise Lost " to observe what
imagery the poet uses. How does he describe
events ? In terms of sight and colour — or in
terms of movement and feeling and sound ?
It is my impression that he was at his best
when employing language less expressive
of things seen than of things felt or of energy
put out in some effort. He feels the actions of
his Satan rather than visualises them. So, at
any rate, it appears to me.
" Six paces huge
He back recoiled ; the seventh on bended knee
His massy spear upstayed."
This and many other passages are vibrant
with muscular energy. They are the language
of the limbs and not of the eyes.
There is some probability that Milton was
always short-sighted ; though not so badly,
it would seem, as to prevent his being quite a
master of the broadsword in his youth. I
think this point rather typical of the man. He
was not a soldier in the strict sense ; he
preferred the pen to the sword. But he was
by temperament an energetic and passionate
soul, rebellious against unworthy restraint —
one of the outstanding revolutionaries of his
Age. One surmises that he mastered the
use of the broadsword as a kind of protest
against his own sense of short-sightedness.
Such an effort is not uncommon. It marks
the soul's determination to revolt against and
overcome the very obstacle it feels most as a
handicap.
Milton, of course, revolted against many
obstacles ; he was a rebel against the whole
established order of things in Church and
State. To his Royalist opponents he was
little better than a devil in human shape ; and
they had no hesitation in attributing his
blindness to his own sins against Heaven.
They poured abuse on him. They likened
him to the blinded Cyclops of Greek legend, a
hideous monster and cannibal
But what of Milton himself ? How did he
accept his blindness ? He was a retired man,
but at the same time an energetic and passion-
ate one. The two things can often go together.
The question was — whether this rebel against
Kings and Bishops would, when he found the
tyranny of blindness creeping upon him,
revolt also against the very order of the
Universe ? Would he, as Job was tempted to
do, curse God and die ? We know that he
did not. What he actually did was to set out
deliberately " to justify the ways of God to
man." That is the other alternative for the
restless and creative mind. Either it rebels or
else it struggles forward to discover some final
harmony, some ultimate reasonableness in
the very nature of things. Such a mind cannot
remain quiet and reconciled.
It is interesting that at one period Milton
played with the idea of using the story of
Macbeth as the basis for an epic or fresh
drama. Macbeth, as Shakespeare presents
him, was an ambitious rebel, a guilty man
haunted by his guilt. Milton did not use the
theme. He turned instead to three great
Biblical figures of pride and disobedience
brought low — Samson, Adam and Satan him-
self. It is, to my mind, as though the poet
were certainly attracted by stories of the
rebellious heroes ; for in them he could
express something of the revolt that stirred in
his own soul. It has even been remarked by
PAGE
112
BEACON
some critics that the really important figure in
" Paradise Lost " is Satan ; he is the true
hero of the Epic. In a sense I believe this to
be correct. The mind of a great poet is not a
simple thing ; it contains within it many
aspects, of some of which he is scarcely
himself conscious. They only reveal them-
selves obliquely in his work. Thus the deep
rebellious passion in Milton could express
itself in his picture of Satan struggling in the
darkness, cast out from the light of Heaven,
just as the poet himself was cast out of the
light of day.
But Milton is, of course, not Satan and he
would have repudiated any suggestion that he
felt sympathy with the arch-fiend. On the
contrary, he spent his energies in trying to
comprehend the designs of Providence and in
schooling himself to resignation. Not that he
believes that the blindness has come upon him
as a punishment for sin. Intellectually and
consciously he would, I think, have refused
to sustain such a belief. But after all sin,
repentence and hell-fire were concepts very
generally accepted in his epoch. He could
not escape them. Every man, it was held,
had sinned and must submit himself to the
Almighty and pray for reconciliation. It was
not quite easy for an afflicted man to take the
attitude of Job and refuse to tolerate the idea
that his affliction was a punishment for guilt.
Milton, in fact, though he did not look upon
his blindness as a visitation from God, was
nevertheless seriously concerned with the
problem of human pride and disobedience ;
and what I am suggesting is that his own
passionate and rebellious spirit was itself felt
by him as something that had constantly to be
schooled and curbed and taught its duty
towards the great Orderer of the Universe.
It is indeed precisely at this point that the
creative energy of Milton was released — the
point of juncture between the two aspects of
his own nature, the side that revolted against
authority and contraint and the side that
yearned to believe in an ultimate harmony, a
profound justification for everything that
might befall him. This after all is one form
of the eternal struggle in the mind of Man.
We want to be free of restriction and yet we
know that our happiness depends on our
ability to tolerate a certain degree of discipline
and difficulty. The effort to reconcile these
two factors is the very texture of life itself.
Some day no doubt an adequate study will
be made of Milton from this point of view.
So far, though much has been written, I have
not yet discovered a commentator who really
seems to me to get to the roots of the problem.
I feel that the whole of the last part of Milton's
life was an attempt, in one sense, to reconcile
himself to his blindness ; and that this is
revealed in his works. Some critics tend to
sentimentalize over him ; others affect to
despise his style or his subject or his theology.
Few look upon him merely as a man among
men, completely human, sensitive and
passionate and often foolish. Studied in this
way, he will be found to reveal to any man
something of that man's own soul — and
especially will he be such a revelation to those
who have to endure the searching handicap
of blindness.
OBITUARY
We much regret to report the death of : —
John Crosby Warren, on Wednesday,
April 29th, at the age of 79 years. Mr.
Warren had been Hon. Secretary of the Royal
Midland Institution for the Blind for the
long period of 46 years. Only those closely
associated with him knew the depth of his
love for this Institution, and for the blind
generally. In recognition of his services to
the blind he was elected a fellow of the College
of Teachers some years ago. The high
esteem in which Mr. W'arren was held was
reflected in the large gathering at his Funeral
Service on Saturday, May 2nd, at the High
Pavement Unitarian Chapel, when over one
hundred representatives of the Institution
attended. Mr. Warren's death causes a
threat gap in work for the blind at Nottingham,
which it will be very difficult to fill.
George Dickie, on the scholastic staff of
the Ulster Institution for the Deaf and Dumb
and the Blind, Belfast. Mr. Dickie, who was
about 63 years of age, had been blind from his
birth, and came from St. Fergus, Peterhead,
over forty years ago to take up the position of
teacher he has ever since occupied in the
Lisburn Road school. He had considerable
gifts as a' musician, and was a successful
teacher of music.
Lucy Holliday, Matron of the Royal
Victoria School for the Blind, Benwell Dene,
Newcastle-on-Tyne, in her 69th year. She
had been Matron of the school for the past
17 years and previously had wide experience
of a similar nature in the Isle of Man.
PAGE
ii3
BEACON
POINTS FROM
THE PRESS
Stiii Interested in " Fat Stock Prices."
Life had become wearisome to one vigorous
old man, now blind. His three score years
and ten have been spent out of doors, vaga-
bond fashion, one time cattle-dealing in the
Welsh hills, then hawking greengrocery far
and near. He now is alone during the whole
of the day, and tied to the house by reason of
his infirmity. Still his interests dwell in
farming and in fat stock prices, of which he
now hears on his own stool at the fireside ;
and, moreover, he finds that there are yet
wider spheres of enjoyment to be had from
" that there 'arker " than even the values of
fat cows. — Manchester City News.
Balancing Disadvantages.
The blind are possessed of a rare gift to
balance the disadvantages of their infirmity.
The things of which they hear, and cannot
see, are, maybe, more intense in their
aesthetic appeal for them than for us.
A friend had been asked to sing at a concert
for the blind. Anxious to please her unusual
audience the girl, before her appearance,
asked the promoters of the concert for their
opinion on a happy choice of songs.
The blind themselves were appealed to, and
they unanimously voted for songs about
flowers, birds and green fields. One of the
songs was encored several times. The
audience could not hear enough of daffodils
a-blowing and a-growing in a spring breeze.
Another song that captured their imagination
was of ships that went sailing across the blue
seas. — Yorkshire Evening Post.
Sir Arthur Pearson.
The tragic blindness of ihe late Sir Arthur
Pearson, whom she (Mrs. C. N. Williamson)
describes as " the next greatest blind man to
Homer and Milton " gives her opportunity
of paying the warmest of tributes to a lovable
personality : — " In his way he was as good-
looking as Sir Alfred Harmsworth and perhaps
about the same age. Dark, instead of fair, he
was ; and he had extraordinarily brilliant
brown eyes ; so brilliant that none could
dream how they were destined to lose their
light one day. I knew Sir Arthur for years, and
always delightfully ; but I hadn't seen him
for a long time when one afternoon just before
PAGE
114
the War I met him on the steps of the Hotel
de Paris at Monte Carlo. " Is it twilight
already ? " he asked. " Or — do I only think
so ? " Then a startled glance showed me that
over the brilliance of those brown eyes a slight
dimness had fallen, like an almost intangible
mist ; and he told me that he was slowly, yet
surely, becoming blind." — John O' London's
Weekly (in a review of " The Inky Way ").
Sports-Wear.
The term " sports- wear " covers a very
wide field, including the heaviest of sweaters
worn for ski-ing and winter amusements,
through the workmanlike golf outfit of knitted
tweed yarns, the very fine knitting in pastel
shades and white for tennis and allied sports,
to the latest recruit in the knitwear army, the
beach suit and bathing dress.
We have indeed travelled far from the days
when coarse gauge machines were considered
marvels of ingenuity, and that a blind opera-
tive could ever manipulate knitting so delicate
in construction as the machines now in use
in the workrooms of the London Association
for the Blind would have been a ludicrous
impossibility. To-day we are knitting fabrics
as soft as silk and almost as fine as muslin.
Now that we have non-stretchable fabrics,
and perfect fittings, there is no reason why
knitwear should not become the most pros-
perous and busiest section of the Blind
World. But, competition is very acute, and
the Blind Workshop wishing to sell its
productions in competition with those of
normal factories must be prepared to give
equal value in design, colour and workman-
ship. Artistry in colour is vital, modernity
in design essential.
Establish your fashions, do not follow
them. A market can always be found for the
novel, interesting, and the attractive. One
must ceaselessly watch the trend of fashion,
which is not a haphazard thing.
Colour phases come in cycles, and a study
of this aspect of fashion work is most fascin-
ating.
To be successful, unceasing watch and
unceasing work are of extreme importance,
the mind of the designer must be open to new
impressions, and there must be a striving
after that individuality of appearance which
places its hall-mark upon the finished product
of the united efforts of the imagination of the
creator and the craftsmanship of the executant.
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Published by MP II. [\ f f I rX. Editorial Offices:
the National |^V |~~< A- % I I I V. 224 Great Port-
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"COMPLETELY FOOLED."
IN our News columns we give particulars of an American youth who, it is stated, was born
blind and can now see after 22 years of blindness. He has looked at the world around
him, and he declares that he has been " completely fooled." This must mean that the
world he sees is entirely different from the world that has been described to him. We
can readily understand that all description of colour must fail before colour itself. Who
can describe the tender flush of dawn on distant hills or the passion of the sun as it sets,
burning in a stormy sky ? Who can describe the light and shade of the wooing of the
flowers by busy bee and butterfly, flaunting by in their bravery ? Can words paint the depth
of meaning in eyes, those windows of the soul ? Perhaps. For even in this case, human skill has
wrought the change, and human skill may yet reply to the challenge : " How completely fooled ! "
BABY'S RIGHTS.
In the first week in July, the National Baby Week Council holds celebrations to state, to
demonstrate, to defend and to promote Baby's Rights. The Rights of Man — a much more
inherently selfish movement — have been loudly proclaimed in every social uprising throughout
the world's history, and have frequently culminated in the right of the loudest proclaimer to
tyrannise. But Baby's Rights have had to await proclamation until this century ; and even if,
as a result, Baby tyrannises, who would not cheerfully submit to the despotism of innocence ?
If Baby drew up a Petition of Rights, it would be divided into two sections, one headed
Love, the other headed Knowledge. Love is in the heart's blood, but the laws of physical
cleanliness, healthy sustenance and mental development can be taught and acquired.
In the work of such bodies as the National Baby Week Council lies the ability to transform
a C3 nation into an Ai nation. The prevention of infantile blindness is naturally a part of that
work, and we recommend all the innumerable people who say that they cannot even think of a
blind baby without pain to soothe their sensitiveness by supporting Baby's Rights with every
means at their disposal. Twentv years ago the majority of blind babies were brought up in
ignorance and squalor ; to-day, thanks to the Sunshine Homes, every baby may be brought up
in happy and healthy surroundings. The problem of the blind baby is practically solved, but
there is a greater problem, the problem of preventing the blind baby, and to the solution of that
problem everv ounce of energy should be devoted. For every baby has the right to see.
THE SYMBOL OF THE BLIND PEDESTRIAN.
The December, 1930, issue of The New Beacon, drew attention to the apparent necessity
for some distinguishing mark which would notify a motorist that a pedestrian was blind. Since
then, the idea of providing the blind with white sticks, as in Paris, has received a considerable
amount of support, and a few weeks ago white sticks were distributed to the blind in West Ham.
Subsequently, an announcement of this local distribution was made over the wireless, with the
result that some people gathered the wrong impression that every blind pedestrian in this country
would in future carry a white stick.
This active interest in an important traffic problem is satisfactory, but we think that the
actual adoption of a white stick, or any other distinguishing mark, by a small section only of
the blind population is perhaps a little premature. It would be better if various suggestions
for helping the blind pedestrian and the sighted motorist were collected and submitted for dis-
cussion to a representative national body. The best possible symbol for the blind pedestrian
may then be found and, although it would certainly not be favoured by every blind person, it
would have a chance of being very generally adopted, and a national announcement as to the
distinguishing symbol could then be made to motorists with propriety and without risk of
misleading them. To be of any practical value, the symbol of the blind pedestrian must be
nationally chosen and, as far as possible, nationally adopted. The Editor.
page
"5
BEACON
SUPERVISION OF CHARITIES.
Report of Home Office Departmental Committee.
n.
HAVING proceeded to state
the legal position as it
applies to charities operated
under Trust Deeds, Incor-
porated Associations or
Institutions acting under
Royal Charter, the Report
goes on to discuss in an intimate fashion some
of the important provisions which have long
been the subject of animated controversy
among organisations existing for benevolent
purposes.
The Ministry of Health is brought into
direct contact with a number of groups of
charitable organisations concerned with its
own particular work. Of these voluntary
hospitals form the largest group. In con-
nection with the recent Government grant
of £500,000, the Voluntary Hospitals Com-
mission, which is closely associated with
the Ministry, had until the grant was
exhausted some measure of control over
the voluntary hospitals which applied to
participate in the grant, but this power was
only exercised to a limited extent and chiefly
in the direction of securing uniformity in
accountancy. The Minister of Health has no
general power of control over hospital
charities. The Ministry of Health has made
capital grants to several voluntary organis-
ations providing tuberculosis sanatoria, and
in certain cases has taken a mortgage on the
premises as security. Maintenance grants are
made to local authorities who either provide
sanatoria themselves or contract with volun-
tary organisations for the treatment of patients
in approved institutions.
The Local Government Act of 1929 is
designed to make radical changes in-so-far as
rate-aided hospitals are concerned and it is
generally agreed that the enlarged powers now
conferred upon County and County Borough
Authorities should increase the scope and
usefulness of the great institutions now
within their control ; indeed, it is quite safe
to say that one more important step has been
taken to bring nearer an efficient State
medical service.
Proceeding to discuss street collections, the
Report draws attention to the fact that the
War of 1914 gave rise to many abuses in
PAGE
116
charity administration and that many serious
cases of fraud were brought to light during
the years 191 4/ 16. The then Home Secretary,
the Rt. Hon. Sir Herbert Samuel, appointed
a Committee " to consider representations
which have been made in regard to the
promotion and management of charitable
funds for objects connected with the War,
and to advise whether any measures should
be taken to secure the better control or
supervision of such funds in the public
interest." The Committee found, upon
investigation, that it was desirable in the
public interest that some control over street
collections and public appeals on behalf of
war charities should be instituted, and their
recommendations were carried into effect
generally by the War Charities Act 1916, and
as regards street collections by Section 5, of
the Police, Factories, etc. (Miscellaneous
Provisions) Act, 191 6. This Section of the
Act provides that a police authority may make
regulations with respect to the places where,
and the conditions under which, persons may
be permitted in any street or public place
within the area of its jurisdiction to collect
money or sell articles for the benefit of
charitable or other purposes.
Model regulations under the Act have been
drawn up by the Home Office and regulations
substantially in this form have been made by
a large number of police authorities in England
and Wales, including those of nearly all the
borough police forces. In rural areas street
collections are not, as a rule, a profitable
means of obtaining funds ; they are therefore
infrequent and the necessity of controlling
them is not acute. The Model regulations
provide for a very extensive supervision of
the collections with a view not only to ensuring
that they are made only on behalf of reputable
organisations and conducted without undue
expense, but to the safeguarding of the actual
money received up to the time it is handed
over to the responsible organisers of the
collection ; and provision is now made for
the publication of a statement showing the
allocation in the case of collections made on
behalf of a general object.
It is sometimes thought that the War
Charities Act has ceased to be operative, but
BEACON
this is quite a mistake. Its provisions can be
as rigorously enforced now as during the war
period. Shortly stated the Act makes it
unlawful to make any appeal to the public for
donations or subscriptions in money or kind
for any war charity unless the charity is
registered as required by the Act. It does
not apply to any collection in a place of public
worship nor to any charity exempted by the
registration authority on the prescribed
grounds, namely, that the scope, duration or
area of collection is so limited that registration
is considered unnecessary.
Charities for the blind, as is well known,
fall into quite a different category, although
there can be no doubt that Section 3 of the
Blind Persons Act was modelled on the lines
of the War Charities Act.
This Section of the Act applies the pro-
visions of the War Charities Act to charities
for the Blind with certain modifications, of
which the principal are : —
(a) the limitation of registration authorities
to County and County Borough Councils
who are the authorities for the other
purposes of the Act, thus excluding Urban
District Councils and the smaller Borough
Councils ;
(b) an additional reason for refusal to
register a charity, namely, that the regis-
tration authority is satisfied that the objects
of the proposed charity are adequately
attained by a charity already registered ;
(c) provision is made for a higher regis-
tration fee ; as prescribed by the Act it is
to be a sum not exceeding two guineas and
was in fact fixed at one guinea ;
(d) the substitution of the Minister of
Health for the Secretary of State for the
purpose of the approval of Regulations
made by the Charity Commissioners ;
(e) power is given to the Charity Commis-
sioners in relation to a charity for the
Blind removed from the register to exercise
the powers conferred on them by Section 6,
of the War Charities Act in relation to an
appeal made by a registered charity, that
is to say, the Commissioners may exercise
those powers even if no appeal against
removal is made.
It is interesting to observe that up to 1926
the number of War Charities registered was
11,950 ; the number of charities for the
blind 252 ; war charities refused registration
52, and charities for the blind 1.
Later in the Report our attention is drawn
to this significant phrase " We were more
disturbed to find that registration of blind
charities had not succeeded in reducing the
costs of collection, but that on the contrary
they showed a tendency to rise in the case of
some of the larger organisations."
Here the Report displays a significant
weakness. It does not appear to have
occurred to the Commissioners, most of whom
so far as can be ascertained, have never
seriously concerned themselves with more
than casual efforts to raise funds for voluntary
societies, that the task becomes more difficult
as the years glide by. Greater efforts have to
be made to-day to raise funds than were
necessary five or six years ago and the net
results are not nearly so satisfactory. De-
pression in trade and a hundred and one other
circumstances contribute to this result and
it by no means follows that a charity is badly
administered because the cost of collections
is registered at a high level. If times are
difficult, larger sums of money must be
expended even to secure comparatively
smaller results. Of course it is possible to
reach a point when the cost of administration
becomes so excessive as to render the charity
useless and although there have been such
instances on record, it is quite true to say that
such a position could never be reached by a
reputable organisation.
Whilst rejecting a comprehensive system of
compulsory registration, the Commissioners
not unmindful of the duties devolving upon
them, very properly urge that most of the
abuses which are said to exist in respect of
certain so-called charities could easily be
eliminated if the public would exercise
greater vigilance. This, after all, is the key
to the situation for those who thrive upon the
results of such misdemeanours know only too
well that they can trifle with a credulous and
indifferent public. It is to be profoundly
regretted that the Commissioners failed to
recommend a practical scheme of registration
and supervision, for it is only by regularising
the efforts of voluntary associations and
giving to them some semblance of statutory
authority that a high standard of adminis-
trative efficiency will be promoted and sus-
tained.
PAGE
117
BEACON
THE JOHNSTON RESISTIVE
EXERCISER.
The Invention of a
OUR readers will be interested
to learn that an improved
I mechanical exerciser is now
available. It has been
invented by Mr. D. W.
Johnston, a totally blind
masseur, who has evolved
a design of a most effcient type as a result of
painstaking experimental work and attention
to detail.
Mr. Johnston was trained in the National
Institute's Massage School in 19 15-16, and
he has invented a piece of apparatus which is
very suitable for installation in schools for the
blind or in private houses, where it would be
very beneficial for blind people who are
unable to take easily regular outdoor exercise. '
The price is moderate and those interested
should apply for further particulars to Mrs.
F. Chaplin Hall, Secretary, Massage School,
National Institute for the Blind, 224, Great
Portland Street, W.i.
The machine is for use when resistive or
assistive exercises have been prescribed. The
peculiar merit lies in the facts that its resist-
ance is constant and yet immediately adjust-
able as regards strength, incidence and
direction to suit the varying requirements of
the patient. After a brief description of the
design, these essential features will be
discussed in detail. The machine is neither
bulky nor expensive, and, as the inventor
aptly claims, it should be the second piece of
apparatus to be selected for a new treatment
room, the only other more essential one being
a plinth.
Design.
(1) The machine comprises a pair of tubes
arranged so as to be screwed to a wall. They
are usually placed at shoulder width. Each
tube is fitted with three pulleys ; the first,
which is of a swivel pattern is fixed at the top
of the tube ; the other two may each be
moved up or down by a stroke of the hand,
and yet will remain stationary under the pull
of the rope which they guide. The adjust-
ment of the resistance already referred to as
an essential feature of the machine is secured
by the various combinations of position and
inclusion of these pulleys.
Totally Blind Masseur.
(2) The tubes guide a pair of weights, each
of which may be quickly regulated to give the
resistance required. The weights are actu-
ated by a pair of ropes which run up the tubes
over the swivel pulleys. Handles may be
fixed to the ropes at any point by a hitch.
(3) A bar, 5 ft. 6 ins. long is mounted,
horizontally, across the vertical tubes. It
may be adjusted as regards height and to suit
the distance at which the vertical tubes have
been secured. One or more of the moveable
pulleys may be attached to the horizontal bar.
Action.
(1) The adjustment of direction of pull in
the vertical plane is arranged for by using
the rope straight from the top swivel pulley,
or alternatively by passing it thence round
either the upper or the lower moveable
pulley.
In the horizontal plane adjustment of
direction of pull occurs through the use of
the horizontal bar to which one or more of
the moveable pulleys may be attached. As
this bar can be moved vertically and fixed at
any level, a most complete combination of
adjustments can be effected. It will also be
noticed that the machine will function
satisfactorily even when an unusual width
between the vertical tubes is dictated by
paucity of wall space for the position of
furniture ; the tubes may well be attached to
the woodwork on either side of a door.
It appears unnecessary to enlarge on the
detailed use of the machine for exercises for
arms, legs and other parts of the body. These
are well known to members of the Society
having been ably described in Dr. J. B.
Mennell's " Massage " (London, 1920). In
this work a variable direction of pull is
recognised as an essential attribute of a
resistance exerciser.
(2) A constant resistance is another point.
Many of the inexpensive and compact types
of apparatus which find their way into use
depend on elastic or springs for their resist-
ance. This is, of course, fundamentally
unsuitable for remedial work, and, as such,
bear no comparison to the weight and pulley
design to which group the Johnston exerciser
belongs. For certain classes of work resist-
PAGE
Il8
BEACON
ance by hand is essential, but for many
others that provided by a weight and pulley
is superior, especially as regards evenness and
the possibility of fatigue to the operator.
(3) A third feature, controllable incidence
of resistance, is one of immense importance.
The period of complete relaxation between
movements is recognised as the foundation
of successful remedial work. It may be
claimed that this can be obtained in any of
the well designed types of apparatus on the
market. In point of fact, however, the adjust-
ment of the length of rope on which this
feature depends is so perfect and readily
obtained in the Johnston machine as to
constitute a distinct advance in design. It is
secured by arranging for the rope to pass over
all three pulleys, and by choosing a distance
between them, so as to take up the slack of
the rope and yet allow the weight to descend
to its lowest limit, when the limb reaches the
position which it is desirable for it to occupy
during the period of rest. The direction of
pull is, of course, determined by the position
of the pulley from which the rope leads off
to the patient. The benefit of this rapid
adjustment is especially felt when exercising
a patient on a plinth or bed.
(4) Strength of resistance is varied by
adding to or reducing either of the
weights .
(5) As regards compactness and inexpen-
siveness little need be added — -although these
are most essential factors. The ability to
place the vertical tubes at almost any con-
venient distance apart is an important point
as regards the space occupied. The sim-
plicity and effectiveness of design makes it
comprehensive as regards uses, and yet
inexpensive as compared to other and more
elaborate (although not more efficient) types
of machine.
A BLIND WOMAN SEES EUROPE
" / "~~^ EEING Europe through Sightless
L 1 Eyes " (Almeda Adams), pub-
^^^ lished by the Grafton Press,
^^^^ New York, 12s. 6d., is a very
^^k readable collection of letters,
I W describing the author's year of
^^. ' travel in Germany, Italy, Switz-
erland, France and England. Miss Adams, a
blind woman from Cleveland, Ohio, started
her travels as chaperone to a girl-friend, who
was visiting Europe to study singing, but after
a time she decided to leave her friend to go
on with her studies and went on alone.
The English reader is inclined sometimes to
think that Miss Adams' generous enthusiasms
over the " lovely people " she seems to have
met everywhere are almost too ecstatic, and
one longs for her to have a few wholesome
dislikes ; but apart from this criticism, which
is perhaps one that recoils more on the reader
than on the always-ready-to-be-appreciative
writer, the letters give a very pleasant picture
of an adventurous year. And the courage of
the blind writer, who braved new places all
alone, often with not much more knowledge
of strange languages than the rest of us, and
who was able to write a letter making light
of four changes of lodging in two days, must
win the admiration of all her readers.
It is very difficult for those of us who see
to understand the quality of the very real
pleasure Miss Adams evidently felt in the
presence of what was beautiful ; like Helen
Keller, she writes as if she saw, and one is left
wondering if hers is not a case like Miss
Keller's, where verbal memory and sympathy
are so intense that there is a danger of the
writer sometimes becoming " the dupe of
words " as Professor Villey terms it. One of
the most interesting passages in the letters
tells of a visit paid by Miss Adams and her
friend to Versailles, when they were fortunate
enough to be present on an evening when the
fountains were illuminated ; the passage is
worth quoting in full : —
" Suddenly, without warning, a miracle
happened. From under the fountain green
lights shot up, transforming the columns of
water into green liquid trees from which
white blossoming spray branches radiated, as
if a fairy forest were created by the touch of
some magic wand. Then, just as suddenly,
the lights were changed to red, and it was as
if fire glowed in the heart of each up-springing
fountain. Again the lights changed from red
to white, and millions of diamonds sparkled
every whither. You felt as if you were seeing
all Marie Antoinette's jewels at once. As the
light faded they sent up brilliant fireworks
making a gorgeous finale to the colour
scheme. One was literally steeped in colour.
Never before in my life have I felt that I
really saw colour, but this was so vivid that
actually it seemed perceptible to other nerves
PAGE
119
BEACON
than those of the eye. I cannot express what
this experience meant to me. I seemed that
night to have been born anew into your
world of vision. Colour has become to me a
vivid reality. There are times, it is true,
when I seem to lose this new colour sense,
but it always comes back."
Perhaps this description stands out in the
book as one of the most vivid, but it is by no
means alone, and there is hardly a page on
which we are not tempted to say : — " But
this woman cannot be blind, or else blindness
is something very different from what we
imagined." " The Jungfrau," she writes, " is
grand, majestic, over-awing, but the Dent-
du-Midi is strength and tenderness and
pitying love," or " I watched it the other
evening as we walked in the park — the
sunset in an Italian sky — not massed in one
blaze of colour, but diffused in gorgeous
ribbons of gold and crimson and amethyst, a
radiant robe wherein the dying day swathed
the stately splendour of his going," or yet
again, " A picture of the Baptism of Jesus by
Veronese stands out vividly in my conscious-
ness for the grandeur and beauty of the divine
face." Those who say that a seeing person
can never understand the mentality of the
blind seem to be vindicated in the face of such
puzzles as this.
But Miss Adams's letters are by no means
all given up to aesthetic appreciation of art-
treasures and natural beauties, and one likes
them the better for the fact that they are full
of very human notes on much more homely
topics, and food is not neglected. " The
suppers," she writes in Berlin, " are impos-
sible ; always some fried thing, so hopelessly
indigestible, that I cannot see why everybody
does not die of it. Personally, I do not
attempt it, and so usually go to bed hungry."
Her account of English ways and cooking, is
far more flattering :— " At last I have reached
the land of promise, the land of daily bath
without extra charge, the land of grape fruit
for breakfast, and of toast and roast and
matchless tea ; land of fresh towels and spot-
less linen, of eager little page-boys ever at
hand to help ; land where my mother-tongue
is spoken by my chamber-maid far more
beautifully than I can hope to speak it my-
self." One is glad to think that Miss Adams's
experience of English hotels is so happy,
even though one has a lurking fear that with
wider experience of them she might have
modified her view.
ACHIEVEMENTS
OF THE BLIND
Mr. Alec Templeton.
In the current issue of The Musical
Standard there is a very appreciative notice
and portrait of Mr. Alec Templeton, the
young blind pianist, an account of whose
career was published in our January, 1927,
issue. Particular attention is drawn to his
remarkable feats of memory, and to the merit
of his compositions. His success at various
Musical Festivals and as " runner-up " in
the final of the highest grade of the Daily
Express National Piano Playing Contest, is
recalled.
Hiking and Roller-Skating.
Mr. A. E. Cadwallander and Mr. F. J.
Law are two blind young men who are
becoming well known in the Mexborough
district for remarkable agility and participa-
tion in recreations not usually followed by
blind people. Recently they spent a rambling
holiday together, and set out from Mex-
borough to Sheffield along the main roads
through Rotherham and Attercliff, com-
pleting this section of their walk in just
under four hours. The next day they
decided to go to Derbyshire, and the third
day they set off from Clay Cross with a local
guide, who escorted them by way of the fields
to Ashover. That part of the tour necessi-
tated a guide because they had to cross
several brooks and avoid some dangerous bog
land.
On reaching Ashover they climbed the
well-known local rock, where others climb to
enjoy the glorious view. Returning to the
top road, they dispensed with the services of
their guide, and continued merrily on to
Matlock.
Finding nothing interesting in the main
streets of the town, they determined to climb
" The heights of Abraham," despite the
warnings of a number of people of whom they
made inquiry. The route of tortuous twisting
steps and rock was negotiated safely, how-
ever.
That was the end of their happy holiday.
A few weeks ago, Mr. Cadwallander and
Mr. Law, with two friends, gave an exhibition
of roller-skating at the Mexborough Olympia
Rink.
PAGE
I20
BEACON
A Blind Grand Knight.
Mr. Robert Lormer, of West Hartlepool,
who is blind, was installed as Grand Knight
of the Grand United Order of Knights of the
Golden Horn, at the annual Easter Confer-
ence at Newcastle. The rank is the highest
the order can offer.
Blind Girl's University Success.
Miss Ellen Gurnell, a 21 -year-old student
at the Royal Normal College for the Blind,
Upper Norwood, has been awarded an exhi-
bition at Somerville College, Oxford, where
she will be the only blind person in residence.
Miss Burnell, who is a native of Liverpool,
has studied at Norwood for about five years,
and after matriculating from there took a
training course, by which she gained her
Board of Education Teacher's Certificate. It
may be, although nothing has been arranged
so far, that at the end of her university
career Miss Gurnell will return to the college
where she was a student. She entered for
the exhibition because she felt that as a
teacher of blind children her work would be
more valuable if she herself had a university
education.
Other Easter Successes of Royal Normal
College Pupils.
Phyllis Humphreys and Gladys Wilcox
passed the Licentiate Examination of the
Royal Academy of Music as Pianoforte
Teachers.
At the London Musical Festival, the
following awards were made : —
Pianoforte {Amateur Class) : Margaret
Brand (First Prize) ;
Pianoforte (for those under 17) : Ronald
Finch (Second Prize).
Blind Girl's Success at Birmingham Musical
Festival.
A seventeen-year-old blind Birmingham
girl, Margaret Roberts, won the open piano
solo competition for competitors between
sixteen and eighteen years of age at the
Birmingham Musical Festival, this month.
She played with an execution and inspiration
which entranced the audience. Another
blind girl, Margaret Parsons, was third, only
seven marks behind in the same class.
A Versatile Young Musician.
Mr. David Buchan, a young blind pianist,
who is steadily forging ahead as a Concert
Recitalist, and who, incidentally, was one of
the first to broadcast from Marconi House in
1922, is a man of many parts, and in addition
to his normal musical activities, he has
recently taken up lecturing on musical and
kindred subjects, the musical illustrations
being contributed either by himself at the
piano, or by the use of gramophone records.
This opens out a promising new line to a
man of Mr. Buchan's all-round ability, and
he has already been successful in his role as
pianist-lecturer.
Mr. Buchan was trained at the Royal
Normal College, Mr. Percy Waller and Mr.
Herbert Fryer being his principal instructors
in pianoforte playing.
At the age of 16, he was awarded the
maximum number of marks (100) for piano-
forte solo playing at the London Musical
Competition Festival, Mr. Ernest Fowles,
the eminent pianoforte teacher and adjudi-
cator, remarking that this was the first
occasion in which he had ever been able to
make such an award.
Mr. Buchan commenced his professional
career as the solo pianist in Lady Arthur
Pearson's well-known Concert Party. And
during one of the tours, owing to the indis-
position of the official accompanist, he had to
undertake at a moment's notice, and without
rehearsal, the accompanist's duties, his only
knowledge of the works having been gained
by hearing them performed during the tour.
This and many other remarkable feats of
quick memorization and adaptability in cases
of emergency are to his credit. Lately he has
made a number of highly successful appear-
ances as a recitalist in some of the best-known
concert halls in London. He has a genuine
gift for composition, and has been commended
by such musicians as Sir Walford Davies and
Mr. Stewart Macpherson. Some of his
pianoforte pieces are on the National Insti-
tute's Braille Music Catalogue, and are also
published in inkprint.
WTe look forward with confidence to the
career of this gifted and versatile young
musician.
National Council for Ireland.
As a result of two preliminary gatherings of
those interested in the blind, the first Com-
mittee Meeting of the National Council for
the Welfare of the Blind in Ireland was held
at the Standard Hotel, Dublin, on April 14th.
Mr. Denis Barrett has consented to act as
Chairman, with Miss A. Armitage as Hon.
Secretary (pro. tern.), and Dr. Quin as Hon.
Treasurer.
PAGE
121
OfcJV<Y,
BEACON
UNION OF COUNTIES ASSOCIATIONS
FOR THE BLIND.
Annual Meeting of the Union of Counties
Associations for the Blind.
It is proposed to hold an Open Session
during the Annual Meeting of the Union of
Counties Associations for the Blind on the
25th June, 193 1, and to invite the attendance
of representatives of Local Authorities con-
cerned with blind welfare and workers for the
blind who are not members of the Council.
This meeting will take place at Cloth-
workers' Hall, Mincing Lane, London, E.C.3,
on Thursday, 25th June, at 2.30 p.m., and the
subject will be the World Conference on the
Blind held last month in New York, on which
papers will be read by a number of the repre-
sentatives from Great Britain who attended
the Conference.
Applications for invitations, the number of
which is limited to the accommodation avail-
able, should be addressed to : — The Secretary,
Union of Counties Associations for the Blind,
66, Victoria Street, London, S.W.i ; and
should be received not later than the end of
May.
Northern Counties Association for the Blind
— Quarterly Meeting.
The Quarterly Meeting of the Northern
Counties Association for the Blind was held
at Henshaw's Institution, Old Trafford,
Manchester, on the 25th March, 193 1, under
the Chairmanship of Mr. A. Siddall, who
cordially thanked the Chairman and Board of
Management of the Institution for their
hospitality.
Among the subjects discussed were the
Wireless for the Blind Fund, the question of
the position of persons becoming blind over
70 years of age, and the problems of children
of 16 years of age discharged from schools for
the blind as " not blind," and the partially
blind.
Councillor Lundy gave some interesting
information as to the installation and main-
tenance of wireless sets in the Northern area
and of the progress of the distribution of sets
supplied by the British Wireless for the Blind
Fund in that area.
On the subject of persons becoming blind
over 70 years of age Councillor Clydesdale
proposed the following resolution : —
" This Conference of Local Authorities
and Voluntary Agencies interested in the
PAGE
122
Welfare of the Blind is of opinion that when
blindness is allied to old age the handicap
is increased, therefore there is no apparent
reason for any reduction in grants made by
Local Authorities to necessitous ' unem-
ployable ' blind persons on the ground of
old age, and regards such an action as
unsympathetic."
During the course of his speech Councillor
Clydesdale said that an attempt was being
made to discriminate between different classes
of blind persons. He thought the best
arrangement would be to place the blind
entirely under the Blind Persons Act Com-
mittee and so remove them from the risk of
being treated as paupers. The difficulties of
old people were intensified if blindness is
added to old age and there was no ethical or
legal justification for the policy of taking from
people who became blind over 70 years of age
a part of the grant now given to the blind ;
there was nothing in the Local Government
Act which penalised any blind person on
account of age.
The resolution was finally carried unani-
mously, the word " apparent " being deleted.
Some discussion took place on the revised
Constitution of the Association which, with
certain amendments, was approved and
adopted.
Mr. H. V. Holland, Secretary of the St.
Flelens & District Society for the Blind, read
a paper on the problem of children of 16
years of age discharged from schools for the
blind as " not blind." He referred to the
difficulties which arose owing to the two
Government definitions of blindness, the one
for children up to 16 years of age being " too
blind to be able to read the ordinary school
books used by children " and the other for
persons of 16 years and over " too blind to
perform work for which eyesight is essential."
He thought that everyone agreed that a
universal standard denoting the least visual
acuity allowable would not be equitable as a
general definition of blindness from infancy
to old age, as the eye conditions of children
were frequently changing in the natural
course of physical development. Many
children who come under the official defini-
tion are sent to schools for the blind where
they are, in most cases, treated as totally
BEACON
blind, learning Braille instead of ordinary
script, etc. Very often the care and treatment
thev receive and the lessened strain on the
eyes, brings a great improvement of vision.
This is a desirable condition from one point
of view, but it may prevent a child from being
certified under the Blind Persons Act for
industrial purposes. Before leaving the blind
school the child is examined by the ophthal-
mic surgeon who is probably governed to a
certain extent in his decision by the industrial
definition of blindness, and it is possible that
through the improvement in sight due to
attendance at a blind school the young person
can not be certified under the Blind Persons
Act.
Mr. Holland asked whether it would not be
in the better interest of a person of 16 who
had been trained in a blind school, to con-
tinue to be a blind person and receive the
benefits of his training. The final decision
as to whether a school child should continue
as industrially blind after he had reached the
age of 1 6 should not be left until the fifteenth
year of the child's life but throughout his
school life, or at any rate from 12 years
onwards, he should be examined annually by
an ophthalmic surgeon who should be asked
to give a prognosis for the future, and if there
was any hope that the child would not even-
tually become industrially blind, the last few
years of his school life should be directed to
fitting him for the sighted world. Or, might
it not be possible to train the child to take his
place in the blind workshops as a semi-
sighted artisan and so do away to some extent
with the employment of fully sighted persons ?
In opening the discussion on Mr. Holland's
paper Councillor Flanagan referred to the
decrease in the numbers of blind children and
to the consequent places to be filled in blind
schools. He felt that Local Authorities
should take great care before transferring a
child to a school for the blind. Some pro-
gressive authorities had set up special schools
for this type of case in which the teachers
were not so much concerned with keeping the
children till the age of 16, but of treating
them so that they could be sent back to the
ordinary elementary school at the earliest
possible moment. Owing to the lack of
schools of this type blind schools were dealing
with children who ought not to be in blind
schools at all. He suggested that the dele-
gates should try to interest their Authorities
in the position of children similar to those
referred to by the speaker. Even in blind
schools they should get out of the habit of
thinking that once a child was in a blind
school he was there for the full period of his
school life.
Councillor Hurley, Chairman of the Care
of the Blind Committee, of the Hull County
Borough Council addressed the Conference
on the question of the partially sighted. He
felt that the time had come when the Ministry
of Health might be approached with a view to
relieving the Local Authorities of the respon-
sibility of dealing with borderline cases, or
providing a scheme of vocational training for
the partially blind. There would always be
a line of demarcation between the blind and
the sighted, but the way out was to find
avenues of employment for the absorption of
the partially blind. This might be accom-
plished by taking advantage of Section 66 of
the Public Health Act, 1925, which enables
the Local Authorities to assist in the preven-
tion of blindness.
Conference of Home Teachers.
On April 22nd, 193 1, at the Milton Hall,
Manchester, the Northern Counties Associ-
ation held a Conference of Home Teachers
which was attended by about 120 Home
Teachers from the Area covered by the
Northern and North- Western Counties
Associations.
There was an Exhibition consisting of
Pastime Occupations, kindly sent in by
Societies from the whole country, also
apparatus and periodicals provided by the
National Institute for the Blind.
Councillor Lundy demonstrated the con-
struction and use of the Wireless Sets provided
by the British Wireless for the Blind Fund
and Messrs. Harrisons the Patent Knitting
Company gave an Exhibition and Demon-
stration with four of their latest machines
and an additional one only completed on the
morning of the Exhibition. This last machine
can be attached to other machines in order to
make the complicated patterns which are
now fashionable.
Mr. W. H. Tate, J.P., gave a Paper on
" Case Work up to date " and Mr. Miles
Priestley on " Pastime Versus Industrial
Occupations."
There was also a period left free for the
discussion of questions raised by members of
the conference.
A full Report will be published in due
course.
PAGE
123
BEACON
(DRRBPONDENCE
To the Editor.
The Needs of the Deaf-Blind.
Sir, — I am very glad that your corres-
pondent, Mrs. E. H. Lee, has voiced the need
of better provision for the social needs of the
deaf-blind, which in my view is a crving one.
That they share, in common with the rest of
the sightless community, the benefits accruing
from the Blind Persons' Act, 1920, should
not be allowed to obscure the indubitable
fact that their additional disability involves
needs which are not covered by the ordinary
activities of the Institutions and County
Associations for the Blind. Even the clubs
and social centres which are springing up
here and there under such auspices do not
touch the social needs in any degree, since
the possession of hearing is requisite for the
enjoyment of what is thereby provided —
unless special provision is made for the
deaf-blind visitors, and there's the rub.
Experience and observation as a worker for
some years in this region of " dark silence,"
have shown me that there is a call here for a
great awakening. Special provision is needed
all round, and that which in the life of the
ordinary seeing and hearing person is con-
sidered a " luxury " may from this point of
view assume the aspect of a necessity of
existence, just as the " only blind " have a
wireless fund, as your correspondent points
out.
As for the deaf-blind in " Institutions," the
word is used rather euphemistically, seeing
that the vast majority of deaf-blind people
not in their own homes are interned in Poor
Law establishments. Although the sugges-
tion made might in some degree mitigate the
evil, I feel that the problem calls for a more
drastic solution. Why should a homeless and
friendless deaf-blind person or an " only
blind " one for the matter of that, as it were
automatically gravitate to a Poor Law Ward ?
Have we ever tried to imagine what existence
under such conditions must be like, with
usually no occupation, no companionship,
little or no touch with the world outside, a
living death ? Small wonder that so many of
these poor souls are slow of intelligence or
temperamentally " difficult " or deemed so.
In this last connection, a final word. There
are a number of deaf-blind people in mental
PAGE
124
hospitals. Is it possible that some of these
would not have found their way there had the
conditions resulting from their terrible two-
fold handicap been rightly apprehended ?
I am very far from wishing to impugn either
the discriminative capacity or the humanity
of the members of a noble profession, but I
have spoken of a great awakening, and I
merely suggest that it may be needed here
also, as I know it is needed in most other
matters concerned with those who are deaf
as well as blind.
Yours, etc.,
Charles Stuart,
West Bromwich.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have been for several years a
voluntary worker amongst the deaf-blind and
I know that what they need so very much is
what the blind already have, people to take
them for walks and to pay them visits regu-
larly. It is pathetic to find how very grateful
they are for this, and makes one feel the
intense privilege of doing anything for them.
Of course, anyone taking up this work should
first learn the finger alphabet, as this is the
only way to communicate with a deaf- blind
person. Many deaf-blind are highly edu-
cated, but live in very poor homes where
people cannot spare the time to talk to them.
Then, of course, a visitor brings a bright
light into their shut-up lives. I hope those
who have some spare time will remember
these, their afflicted brothers and sisters.
Yours, etc.,
(Miss) Julia Margaret Strang.
To the Editor.
Sir, — I have read with much interest the
letter in your last issue on the social welfare
of the deaf-blind.
As a working member of the National
Deaf-Blind Helpers' League, I beg to say
that I fully endorse all that that letter contains.
It is quite true, as your correspondent
points out, that, although so much has been
done of late years, to enhance the social life of
the hearing blind, little or no effort has as yet
been made towards compensation to their
still less fortunate brothers and sisters, for
their additional heavy handicap of deafness.
It would hardly seem necessary to point out
that, since the deaf-blind are debarred from
all the pleasures and educational advantages
which are provided for the hearing blind, by
BEACON
means of wireless sets, free concerts, lectures,
dramatic entertainments, and so on, some
form of equivalent for these benefits is due
to these doubly afflicted people. Yet it is a
strange fact, that, up to the present, this
point has been almost entirely ignored.
It was with the object of endeavouring to
remedy this defect, and to bring as much
happiness and cheer into the lives of the deaf-
blind, that the National Deaf- Blind Helpers'
League was founded a little over three years
ago. There is no space here to go into
details of the aims and ideals of the league
All information concerning it may be had
from the Hon. Sec, Miss Watton, 183,
Horsley Heath, Tipton, Staffordshire. There
is, however, one item on our programme
which I should like to mention, since it has
been touched on by your correspondent. We
are strenuously endeavouring to remove all
deaf-blind persons from Poor-Law Institu-
tions, and to have them placed in more
suitable and congenial surroundings. And I
am glad to say that wherever we have suc-
ceeded in achieving this it has always been
with verv happy results. Although our
numbers are steadily increasing, we are still
only a small societv, and badly in need of
material help and moral support. While we
are sincerely grateful for what help and co-
operation has been offered to us, from the
larger and older societies for the blind, we
should be glad to feel that there existed among
these a still fuller appreciation of the urgent
claim of this section of the blind community
on their sympathies and resources, as well as
on those of the public at large. We feel that
the double helplessness of the deaf-blind
means such a terrible handicap.
Yours, etc.,
G. B. Hamilton,
Chelsea.
Radio Adoption.
In the February issue of The New Beacon
a correspondent sought information in the
" Radio adoption " of blind people. Follow-
ing is an extract from a letter received by the
British Wireless for the Blind Fund : —
" All wireless sets in need of attention owned
by the necessitous blind people are reported
to me [Hon. Sec. of a District Radio Society],
usually through the medium of the Health
Department of the Corporation. I then write
to one of my members who lives nearby and
he visits the set. Adjustments and minor
alterations are done on the spot, new parts
required being referred to me for purchase at
a privileged rate available for the necessitous
blind only. Generally speaking we ask the
blind person to pay half the reduced cost of
new H.T. batteries (2s. 9d.) and accumu-
lators (4s. 3d.). Reconstructions, other parts
and work we supply at our own expense. The
idea is that financial interest in a wireless set
is essential for economical working. The
scheme works well ; cases arise, of course,
where we forego the usual part charge. We
have about 35 of these sets under our care, all
referred to us through the medium of the
Health Department ; we confine our activities
to maintenance onlv."
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND.
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MUSIC.
The prices of the following pieces of music are subject
to a reduction of three-quarters for the blind resident
in the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
The minimum price is 6d. per copy.
ORGAN— s. d.
10.729 Alderson, A. P. Introduction and
Passacaglia ... ... ... ... 2 0
10.730 Moussorgsky, M. Kieff Processional
(arr. by A. Eaglefield Hull) 2 0
10.731 Stewart, C. Hylton. Five Short and
Easy Pieces (founded on Hymn Tunes) 2 0
PIANO
10.732 Albeniz, J. Cotillon Valse 2 0
10.733 Arnc, T. A. Sonata No. 4 in D minor 2 0
10.734 Bach. Sturze zu Boden (Hurl Them
Down Headlong) (arr. by Walter
Rummel) 2 0
10.735 Glinka, M. Mazourka Russe 2 0
10.736 Melartin, Erkki. Impromptu 2 0
10.737 Pasquini, B. Toccata on the Cuckoo's
Note 2 0
10.738 Sanderson, W. Caprice Orientale ... 2 0
10.739 Spurling, C. M. Buffoon 2 0
DANCE
10.740 Evans, T. Lady of Spain, Song Fox-
Trot 2 0
10.741 Ronell, A. Baby's Birthday Party,
Song Fox-Trot ... ... ... 2 0
10.742 Sherman, A. and Lewis, A. Wedding
Bells are Ringing for Sally, Song-
Waltz 2 0
10.743 Towers, L. and Ursell, E. Cobble-
stones, Song Fox-Trot ... ... 2 0
SONGS—
10.744 Balfe I Dreamt that I Dwelt in
Marble Halls, from " The Bohemian
Girl." D ; D— F1 2 0
10.745 Beethoven. Life is Nothing Without
Money, Bass Air, from " Fidelio,"
B flat ; B1— D1 2 0
10.746 Head, Michael. Sweet Chance, that Led
My Steps Abroad, D ; At— Dl ... 2 0
10.747 Hewett, T. J. Out Where the Big
Ships Go, C minor ; C — E1... ... 2 0
10.748 Homer, Sidney. A Banjo's Song, C ;
E— F1 2 0
PAGE
125
BEACON
10.749 Johnson, J. C. Trav'lin' All Alone. F;
C— D1
10.750 Liddle, S. Lovely Kind and Kindly
Loving, D flat ; F— A1
10.751 Macmurrough, D. Macushla, A flat ;
E— G1 flat
10.752 Veracini. A Pastoral, from " Rosa-
linda " (arr. by A. L.1, E. fiat ;
Bx— Fl
10.753 Wekerlin, J. B. Chanson rlu Papillon,
G minor ; D — G1
BRAILLE BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per vol.
s. d.
10,075-10,077 Colomba, by Prosper Merimre.
In French. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 3 vols.
F.156 5 3
10,067-10,068 Conversation with an Angel,
and Other Essays, A, by Hilaire
Belloc. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Cloth Boards, 2 vols. G.139 8 9
10,046-10,050 Daughter of Heth, A, by William
Black. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 5 vols. F.290 5 9
10,061-10,066 Duchess of Wrexe, The, by
Hugh Walpole. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpomted, Paper Covers, 6 vols.
F.357 6 0
10,041-10,044 Essays of Joseph Addison,
Selected by J. R. Green, M.A.,
LL.D. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pomted, Paper Covers, 4 vols. F.226 5 9
10,052-10,055 Expiation, by the author of
" Elizabeth and Her German Gar-
den." Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 4 vols. F.253 6 3
10.114 Frisky Tales, by Lady Farren. Grjule
2, Large size, Interpointed, Cloth
Boards. G.93 9 9
10,112-10,113 Home, Health and Garden.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 2 vols. F.112 ... 5 9
10,167 House at Pooh Corner, The, by A. A.
Milne. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers. F.63 ... 6 3
10,168-10,169 Jesus of Nazareth, by Chas
Gore, D.D., D.C.L., LL.D. Grade 2,
Large size, Interpointed, Paper
Covers, 2 vols. F.118 6 0
10.115 Kreutzer Sonata, The, by Tolstoy.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Cloth Boards. G.80 9 6
9,993-9,999 Main Street, by Sinclair Lewis.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 7 vols. F.412... ... 6 0
10,078-10,080 On the Art of Reading, by Sir
A. T. Ouiller-Couch. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers, 3
vols. F.153 5 3
10,059-10,060 Poems of Thomas Campbell,
Selected by Lewis Campbell. Grade
2, Large size, Interpointed, Cloth
Boards, 2 vols. G.135 8 6
10,606-10,611 Pupils' Class-Book of Arith-
metic, The, by E. J. S. Lay. Grade
2, Intermediate size, Interpointed,
Stiff Covers, 6 vols. B.357 6 3
10,162-10,166 Rebel Generation, The, by Jo
Van Ammers-Kuller. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers,
5 vols. F.282 5 9
PAGE
126
per vol.
10,122-10,124 Roden's Corner, by H. Seton .<;. d.
Merriman. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 3 vols
F.194 6 6
10,216-10,221 Sant' Ilario, by F. Marion
Crawford. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 6 vols.
F.365 6 0
10,072-10,074 Simpkin's Plot, The, by G. A.
Birmingham. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 3 vols.
F.180 6 0
9,808-9,812 Sorrell & Son, by Warwick
Deeping. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 5 vols. F.318 6 3
9,990-9,992 Youngest Girl in the Fifth, The,
by Angela Brazil. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers,
3 vols. F.169 5 9
9.235 Map of Spain and Portugal. Rivers
and Towns ... ... ... ... 9
9.236 Map of Spain and Portugal. Rivers
and Mountains ... ... ... 9
9.237 Map of Italy. Rivers and Towns ... 9
9.238 Map of Italy. Rivers and Mountains... 9
8.251 Guides to Maps of Spain and Portugal.
Grade 2, Intermediate size, Inter-
lined, Stiff Covers. B.14 3 0
8.252 Guides to Maps of Italy. Grade 2,
Intermediate size, Interlined, Stiff
Covers. B.13 3 0
MOON BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per vol.
s. d.
3,059-3,065 The House of Dreams Come True.
7 vols. (Limited Edition) 12 0
3,092 Lesson Book in Giant Moon Type ... 1 0
NATIONAL INSTITUTE STUDENTS' LIBRARY.
ADDITIONS.
BIOGRAPHY. Vols.
Byron, bv Andre Maurois ... ... ... 7
ENGLISH LITERATURE.
Anon. Anglo-Saxon Poetry (Trans, by R. K.
Gordon) ...
Ker, W. P. Art of Poetry
Raleigh, Sir W. (Ed. by) ; Shakespeare'
England ...
HISTORY.
Trevelyan, G. M. England under Queen Anne
(Blenheim)
Trevelyan, G. M. Garibaldi and the Defence of
the Roman Republic ... ... ... ... 4
Trevelyan, G. M. Garibaldi and the Thousand 4
Lawrence, D. H. Movements in European
History ... ... ... ... ... ... 4
LAW.
Dicey, A. V. Conflict of Laws (1928 Ed.) ... 6
MISCELLANEOUS.
Guerber, H. A. Myths of the Norsemen
MODERN LANGUAGES.
Oxford Book of German Verse ...
PHILOSOPHY.
McKeon, R. (Ed. by) ; Selections from Medieval
Philosophers
POETRY AND DRAMA.
Pocock, G. M. (Ed. by) ; Modern Poetry ... 1
Strindberg, A. Easter and other Plays .. . ... 5
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE.
Stoddard, I- Rising Tide of Colour ...
SCIENCE.
Thomson, J. A. What the World is Made of .
BEACON
THEOLOGY AND RELIGIONS. Vols.
Headlam, A. C. St. Paul and Christianity ••• 2
Mackintosh, H. R. Christian Apprehension of
God 2
Milligan, YV. Resurrection of Our Lord ... 4
Oesterley, W. O. E. Books of the Apocrypha... 8
NATIONAL INSTITUTE
MUSIC STUDENTS' LIBRARY.
VOCAL MUSIC.
Bennett. Sterndale. Eight Songs :— (110).
Musing on the roaring ocean. Forget me not.
Gentle Zephyr. Winter's gone.
Dawn Gentle Flower. Sing, maiden, sing.
Maiden mine. Sunset.
Various Composers. Selected Madrigals.
1st Soprano Part (111).
2nd ,, ,, (112).
1st Alto Part (112a).
1st Tenor Part (113).
1st Bass (114)
Contents : —
Flora gave me (Wilbye).
Sweet honeysucking bees (Wilbye).
The Lady Oriana (Wilbye).
My bonny lass (Morley).
I follow, lo. the footing (Morley).
Lo ! where the flowery Mead (Morley).
All creatures now are merry (Benet).
Flow, O my tears (Benet).
Down in a flowery vale (Festa).
Die not, fond man (J. Ward).
Round about her chariot (Gibbons).
As Vesta was (Weelkes).
In these delightful pleasant groves (Purcell).
O sleep, fond fancy (Benet).
When the twilight's parting flush (Lahee).
Flora now calleth forth (J. S. Smith).
Blest pair of Sirens (J. S. Smith).
Let me careless (F. Linley).
O snatch me swift (VV. Callcott).
Walker, Ernest. Trio, female voices. Hark ! Hark !
the Lark (Unaccompanied) (162).
Trio, female voices. Urchins and
Elves (With accompaniment) (163).
Allitsen, Frances. Song. There's a land (164).
Selbv. B. Luard. Song. A widow bird sat mourning (165).
Dell;Acqua, Eva. Sons. Villanelle (166).
ASSOCIATED BOARD (R.A.M., R.C.M.)
EXAMINATIONS.
Exams, in Rudiments. Harmony and Counterpoint for
1918. Syllabus A (167).
Exams, in Rudiments, Harmony and Counterpoint for
1919. Syllabus A (168).
Exams, in Rudiments, Harmonv and Counterpoint for
1920. Syllabus A (169).
A.R.C.O. EXAMINATION PAPERS.
(For January and July each year.)
1912 (170) : 1913 (171) ; 1914 (172) ; 1915 (173) ;
1916 (174) ; 1917 (175) ; 1918 (176) ; 1919 (177) ;
1920 (178) ; 1921 (179) ; 1922 (180).
F.R.C.O. EXAMINATION PAPERS.
(For January and July each year.)
1912 (181); 1913 (182); 1914 (18.3); 1915 (184);
1916 (185) ; 1917 (186) ; 1918 (187) ; 1919 (188) ;
1920 (189) ; 1921 (190) ; 1922 (191).
Grove, George. Analysis of Schumann's Symphony in
E flat (192).
SETTINGS OF THE CANTICLES, ETC.
Stainer. Morning Service in B flat (133).
Tours. Jubilate Deo in F (from Service in F) (134).
Stanford. Jubilate Deo in B flat (from Service in B
flat) (135).
Tours. Benedictus in F (from Service in F) (136).
Stanford. Benedictus in F (from Service in B flat) (137).
Woodward. Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis, in D (138).
in Eflat (139).
ANTHEMS, ETC.
Boyce. By the waters of Babylon (140).
Great and marvellous are Thy works (141).
Croft. Cry aloud and shout (142).
Crotch. Lo ' star led chiefs (143).
Mendelssohn. Trio (female voices) Hear my prayer, O
Lord (Psalm 102) (144).
Smart. The Angel Gabriel was sent from God (145).
PIANO MUSIC (All in " Old style " Braille).
Raff. Thirty Progressive Studies (one volume) (146).
Cavatina (147).
Au clair de la lune (148).
Babillarde (149).
Fablain (150).
Fleurette (151).
Garcon Meunico (152).
Manon Rondinette (153).
Marche Bohemienne, Op. 75 (154).
Mignonne Valse (155).
Ranz de Vaches (156).
Pleureuse (157).
Tour a cheval (158).
Scarlatti, Domenico. Sonata in C (159).
Capriccio (160).
Pastorale in E minor (161),
HARMONIUM AND PIANO.
Guilmant — Scherzo Capriccioso in F shaip minci —
Harmonium Part (74)
Piano Part (75)
Marche Triomphale (76)
Pastorale in A (77)
Wagner— Marche de Tannhauser (78)
PIANO.
Bach— French Suites —
No. 1, in D minor (79)
No. 2, in C minor (80)
No. 4, in E flat (81)
No. 6, in E (82)
Handel — Suites —
No. 1. in A (83)
No. 2, in F (84)
No. 3, in D minor (85)
No. 4, in E minor (86)
No. 5, in E (87)
No. 6, in F sharp minor (88)
No. 7, in G minoi (89)
Rubinstein — Impromptu in G ; Scherzo in A ; Romance
in F (90)
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND.
ADDITIONS— APRIL, 1931.
FICTION. Vols.
" Afghan." Exploits of Asaf Khan 4
Ashton, Helen. A Lot of Talk 3
Beaman, E. H. Secret Force and Other Stories 1
Belloc, H. Missing Masterpiece 3
*Beresford, J. D. Instrument of Destiny ... 2
Burdekin, Katherine. The Burning Ring ... 4
Clarke, Isabel, C. Potter's House 5
Corelli, Marie. Young Diana 5
*de la Mare, Walter. Return 3
*Denman, Ann. Silent Handicap ... ... 3
Douglas, O. Day of Small Things 4
Eyton, John. Expectancy ... ... ••• 4
Feval, P. and M. Lassez. Heir of Buckingham 4
"France, A. Honey-Bee ... ... ... ... 1
Freeman, H. W. Down in the Valley 5
Garstin, Crosbie. China Seas ... ... ... 3
Jepson, E. Lady Noggs Assists 3
Kitchin, C. H. B! Death of my Aunt 3
Lewis, Ethelreda. Mantis 4
Lockhart, J. G. That Followed After 5
Macdonald, P. The Noose ... ... ... 4
Marshall, A. Pippin 5
Maurois, A. Country of Thirty-six Thousand
Wishes ... ... ... ••• ••• •■• 1
PAGE
I27
BEACON
Miln, L. J. By Soochow Waters ... ... 5
Moore, G. The Lake 4
Oppenheim, E. P. Jennerton and Co. ... ... 3
Pemberton, Max. Great White Army ... ... 4
Phillpotts, Eden. The Torch and Other Tales 4
Porter, Eleanor. Pollyanna ... ... ... 3
Priestley, J. B. Angel Pavement ... ... 9
Riley, W. Doctor Dick 4
*Rowley, J. de la M. Passage in Park Lane ... 4
Rntter, Owen. Lucky Star ... ... ... 4
"Sapper." Tiny Carteret ... ... ... 4
Sidgwick, Mrs. A. Masquerade... ... ... 4
Sidgwick, Mrs. A. Purple Jar ... ... ... 4
Stacpoole, H. de V. Gates of the Morning ... 3
Wallace, Edgar. Sanders ... ... ... 3
Walpole, H. Wintersmoon ... ... ... 8
Walsh, Maurice. Small Dark Man ... ... 4
Walsh, Maurice. While Rivers Run ... ... 5
Wingate, Mrs. A. Jen ... ... 5
Young, F. Brett. Portrait of Clare 14
Young, F, E. Mills. Penny Rose ... ... 4
MISCELLANEOUS.
Armour, Margaret (Translated by). Fall of the
Nibelungs ... ... ... ... ... 4
Bazett, L. M. Some Thoughts on Mediumship 1
Caesar, Julius (Trans. H. J. Edwards) Gallic
War ; Books I- VIII (E. W. Austin Memorial) 6
Carr-Saunders, A. M. Eugenics (E. W. Austin
Memorial) ... ... ... ... ... 3
Eucken, R. (Trans. W. Tudor Jones). Truth of
Religion (E. W. Austin Memorial) ... ... 9
Graham, Stephen. Peter the Great (E. W.
Austin Memorial) 5
Grahame, Stewart. Where Socialism Failed ... 4
Hagberg, K. (Trans. Elizabeth Sprigge and C.
Napier). Kings, Churchills and Statesmen :
A Foreigner's View (E. W. Austin Memorial) 3
Kennedy, Rev. G. A. Studdert. Warrior, the
Woman and the Christ ... ... ... 4
Ludwig, E. (Trans. E. and C. Paul). Lincoln 9
Ludwig, E. (Trans. E. and C. Paul). On Mediter-
ranean Shores ... ... ... 4
Martindale, Rev. C. C. and Rev. G. Bamfield.
At Mass and Benediction ... ... ... 1
Misciattelli, P. Savonarola ... ... ... 3
Morton, H. V. In Search of Scotland 5
Nevill, R. Romantic London ... ... ... 3
Parker, Eric. English Wild Life (English
Heritage Series) ... ... 3
Schiller, F. G. S. Tantalus, or The Future of
Man 1
Scott, I. Cyril. Influence of Music on History
and Morals ... ... ... ... ... 4
Shaw, G. B. Caesar and Cleopatra : A Play ... 2
Smith, G. Elliot. Human History (E. W.
Austin Memorial) ... 9
Underbill, Evelyn. Prayer with Life as Prayer 1
JUVENILE.
Craik, Mrs. Little Lame Prince and His Travel-
ling Cloak 2
Hann, Mrs. Osborn. Peg's Patrol ... ... 2
Lane, Margaret S. Betty's Friend ... ... 1
Shillito, E. Lamplighters in Strange Lands :
Bible Stories Retold for Children 1
Wilmot-Buxton, E. Tales from the Eddas ... 2
GRADE I.
Cradock, Mrs. H. C. Josephine, John and the
Puppy 1
Douglas, O. Ann and Her Mother ... ... 4
Oxenham, J. Cedar Box ... ... ... 1
Wallace, Edgar. Ghost of Down Hill 1
GRADE III.
Hamilton, J. A. MS. in a Red Box 3
♦Produced by the National Institute for the Blind.
MOON. Vols.
Kennedy, R. K, Madame Luxuron ... ... 3
Miller, J. R. Things to Live for (Volume 2) ... 1
Pemberton, Max. Hundred Days ... ... 5
NEW RUBBER GEOMETRY MATS.
New rubber geometry mats are now obtainable from
the National Institute for the Blind, 224, Gt. Portland
Street, W.l. Price 1/6 each. These are special rubber
mats designed for drawing geometrical or other figures
with the raised lines uppermost. To use the mat,
place ordinary writing paper, or medium thickness
Braille paper, on the mat and then, with the aid of
either a spur wheel and ruler or compass, draw the
required lines. A fairly heavy pressure is required
A raised line will then appear on the top surface, thus
obviating the necessity of reversing the paper to feel
what has been drawn.
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THE BLIND, JULY, 1931.
The next Examination for Gardner's Trust Scholar-
ships of the annual value of £40, tenable at the Royal
Normal College for the Blind, Upper Norwood, S.E.19,
will be held on Saturday, 4th July and Monday, 0th
July. Candidates must have reached the age of
sixteen on or before the date of the Examination, must
have resided in England and Wales for the last five
years and be intending to remain so resident. Appli-
cation should be made to the Principal on or before
Saturday, 20th June, and the forms properly filled in
and completed, returned to the College on or before
Saturday, 27th June, or the Candidate's name will not
be placed on the list.
COLLEGE OF TEACHERS OF THE BLIND.
NATIONAL DIPLOMA FOR BLIND PIANOFORTE
TUNERS.
The next examination for the Diploma will be held
on 1st July, 1931. Forms of application can be obtained
from the Hon. Registrar of the College, 224-6-8, Great
Portland Street, London, W.l, and must be returned
not later than 15th June, 1931.
COLLEGE OF TEACHERS OF THE BLIND.
CRAFT INSTRUCTORS EXAMINATION.
The next Craft Instructors Examination will be
held on 13th, 14th and 15th October, 1931, at the
School for the Blind, Swiss Cottage, London, N.W.3.
Forms of application can be obtained from the Hon.
Registrar of the College, 224-6-8, Great Portland Street,
London, W.l, and must be returned not later than
12th September, 1931.
Copies of previous examination papers can be
obtained from the Hon. Registrar.
ADVERTISEMENTS
MATTRESS MAKING— hair and wool WANTED
WOMAN to take charge of department. Apply stating
age, experience and salary required to the Secretary,
Institution for the Blind, Roundhay Road, Leeds.
HELEN KELLER IN " MY RELIGION " says of
Swedenborg, " His message has travelled like light."
Swedenborg's " Heavenly Doctrine " and " God the
Creator," in Braille, 2/6 each volume. Order from
Swedenborg Society (Inc.), 20, Hart Street, London,
W.C.I.
WANTED for North of England, HOME TEACHER
for the Blind, must hold Home Teachers Certificate.
Apply giving age, experience, and when certificate was
obtained, to " Alpha," c/o New Beacon, 224, Great
Portland Street, London, W.L
Printed by Smiths' Printing Company (London & St. Albans), Ltd., 2224, Fetter Lane, London, E.C.4.
cDfwZNcw
BEACON
A MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF THE BLIND
Vol. XV.— No. 174. JUNE 15th, 1931. Price 3d.
3S. PER ANNUM, POST FREE.
Entered as Second Class Matter, March 15. 1929. at the Post Office at Boston, Man., under the Act of March 3, 1879 [Sec. 397, P.L. and R.)
THE BLIND CHILD— ITS PHYSICAL,
SPIRITUAL AND MENTAL TRAINING.
By E. WALKER FIN LAW
Member of the Executive Committee of the National Baby Week Council.
THE National Baby Week Council is holding, during the first week in July, its
15th Celebration. Since its inauguration in 1917, when the continued and
heavy death toll of our expeditionary forces created the necessity for a supreme
effort on behalf of the Mothers and Children of the Nation, the activities of
this National Body have been far-reaching in their efforts, and most satisfactory
in their results. In the yearly propaganda, public attention has been directed
to all aspects of child welfare, and it was during the first two years of the
National Baby Week Council's existence, 1917-1918, that the National Institute for the Blind
inaugurated its scheme of Sunshine Homes for Blind Babies.
Unfortunately all blind children cannot be admitted to these homes, and it will not be
amiss at this particular season of the year to remind readers of the special treatment that sightless
little ones require.
When considering the care of the blind child — and by care there is included a trilogy of
physical, mental and spiritual development — it should be remembered that there are two great
divisions evident at the earliest stages — i.e. the normal and ordinarily developed child whose
only disability is blindness, and the sub-normal child, who in addition to lack of sight, has
further disadvantages of deficiencies in mind and health.
' To further and support great efforts of all child welfare movements, is to ameliorate the
conditions of all children, blind and sighted alike, who have the misfortune to belong to the
former class ; so let us consider the general outlook for the children. A general line of thought
can be traced to correlate the sightless child with its more favoured kin.
The normal blind child differs very little physically from the ordinary child. The infant
and the toddler receive similar treatment in diet, exercise, clothing and hygiene. Causes for
defective muscularj>rowth or for faulty digestion may be traced to identical origins, so that one
may enunciate a few principles for the general health of the normal blind toddler.
The word "fresh" might be quite a good slogan for the necessities of all such children,
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fresh air, fresh food, fresh clothing and fresh
surroundings. The food should be of the
simplest and most wholesome kind, given at
regular intervals and daily at the same hour.
The diet should include fresh milk and fresh
vegetables and fruit. Clothing should be of
the simplest, and again, always fresh and clean.
It should never be forgotten that the early
training of the blind child is to fit him for
later life, when his handicap is going to place
him at a disadvantage in the economic market,
and in the strain for personal support. It is
necessary, therefore, to build up the body
with this in view, and the finest physique is
the one where the nervous system is under
control and the organs all functioning in a
normal and effective manner. Therefore,
regular habits of cleanliness, feeding, clothing,
recreation and sleep cannot be commenced
too soon, nor too persistently impressed upon
the voung and receptive mind.
Simple as these principles for health are,
there is always the one great difference for
which allowance has to be made. With the
lighted, the old adage, " example is better
than precept," may still hold good, for the
child is an imitator from the time that the
sight becomes the first sense in constant use.
In the case of the blind, this adage might be
inverted, and " precept be better than
example," for it is not through sight that
imitation is made, but through sound. It is
the voice that means so much to the sightless
baby, and not the smile of the mother ; here
then is the true beginning of the real education
of the child.
By all means attend with assiduity to the
health and cleanliness of the blind child ; but
at the same time do not forget that his mental
and spiritual care and welfare are. from the
earliest years equally as importantly And to
this end the senses of sound and 'touch must
be trained and guided as cautiously and as
tenderly, as the sight of an artist is trained in
the discrimination of colou^
It is easy to talk on the negative side of this
question, but the most successful work is the
constructive. Let us for a moment compare
the blind and the sighted child. The latter
begins to notice when only a few months old,
and his eyes may be seen following the move-
ments of his mother as she goes about her
duties. In the case of the blind child, it is the
sound that he follows, and, if carefully
watched, it will be found that his attention is
PAGE
I30
directed to household sound and outside
noises. Therefore, if the sightless baby is to
be as forward mentally as his sighted brother,
he must be induced to follow sound, as his
brother follows light. Mother must talk, and
that in not too high a voice, music must be
used as often as possible with the human
voice, and as the baby becomes a toddler, the
simplest sounds must be reiterated and
continued with simple explanations as often
as possible.
Equally necessary are the first lessons in
touch. This will begin with the mother's
finger, and the clothing ; then extend to toys
and articles of furniture, and as the adven-
turous spirit of the blind child is roused, the
ever-watchful eye of the mother will be there
to guard against danger or jeopardv.
The lack of sight encourages the absence of
fear in a blind child, but should there be any
misadventure or accident, then fear may be
awakened and it mav be many vears before
the first thrill of terror is forgotten, and the
child is able to overcome the sensations of fear
that accrued from the mischance.
So it must be seen that it is all-important
that the use of sound and touch be jointly
used, and that in this union the great binder
is love. Tenderness and sympathv, love and
compassion, will cherish the mentality of the
blind child, even as the sun and rain make the
blossoms come forth from the ground — and
in the adult understanding lies the promise of
the infantile growth and beauty of character.
From the training of the mental qualities
of the blind baby, it is only a step to its
spiritual side. It is a debatable question
whether the lack of vision does not go far to
make the blind man a more responsive entity
to the emotional, and, therefore, to the
religious tendency of his nature.
I, But it is true that with limited vision, or no
vision, the blind are deprived of the beauty of
colour, although they rejoice in not seeing the
sordidness and gloom of the unattractive and
defiled. Once more then, the blind turn to
the world of sound and the written word, and,
therein, they can get the beauty which is as
true in its conception to them as any landscape
to a great picture. The mind creates its own
beauty and in its realm of spirit is generated
the emotions which have produced the
' mystic and the aesthetic " of old. \
It is not the aim of the early training to
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make the child shy or retiring. This would and it all comes back to the primary thoughts
bring about introspection and seclusion, given to the first few years of mental, physical
which, again, in its turn, makes for either a and spiritual training.
weakened or aggressive spirit ; rather train so To those who have the care and training of
that the child may be confident and individual. blind children there is no higher and wiser
After all, in this world of competition, the guide than the words of the Good Shepherd :
blind child with the spiritless nature, is " Come unto me " and " Inasmuch as ye
doubly handicapped against life's bufferings — ■ did it . . .".
HOME NEWS
The Duchess of York to Present Prizes at Swiss Cottage.
II.R.H. the Duchess of York has consented to present the prizes to the blind pupils
and craftsmen of the School for the Blind, Swiss Cottage, on the occasion of the annual
prize distribution at the Guildhall on June 29th.
Large Mat-Making Contract Secured by Henshaw's Institution.
Henshaw's Institution for the Blind has been successful in securing a contract for
4,000 mats, which will provide a year's employment for all the mat-makers engaged at
the Old Trafford Workshops. The contract was secured in competition with other
large firms.
New Social Centre for Blind in Staffordshire.
A new centre for the blind of Newcastle and district, under the auspices of the
Staffordshire Association for the Welfare of the Blind, was officially opened last month
by Mr. A. Lathe, of Wolverhampton, Chairman of the Association. The Secretary
observed that the first purpose of the new centre was to give happiness to blind people.
Meetings and outings would be organised and assistance towards the purchase of wireless
sets had been promised. Another project was the promotion of a bulb-growing
competition.
No Extension of Financial Provision for Training in Northern Ireland.
In the Ulster House of Commons last month, Mr. M'Aleer asked the Prime Minister
whether it was the intention of the Government to repeal the Blind Persons Act (1920)
and give a special grant-in-aid to that deserving afflicted class so as to relieve the county
councils of the duty now imposed upon them, and thereby make the establishment of a
training centre for the blind a Government undertaking.
The Minister of Home Affairs said he had been asked by the Prime Minister to
answer the question, and to state that it was regretted that the Government could not
extend the financial provision already accorded in regard to the training of blind persons
under the Act referred to in the question.
The Blind Visit the Salisbury Museum.
On June 2nd, about 20 blind persons, accompanied by Miss G. F. Waters (Hon.
Secretary of the Wilts. County Association for the Care of the Blind), visited the Salisbury
Museum for a demonstration by the Controller of the Museum, Mr. Frank Stevens,
who received the party in the Museum Lecture Theatre.
He began by giving his hearers some account of the Glacial Age, and the large
animals, now extinct, which existed at that time. Teeth of the Woolly Rhinoceros and
the Woolly Mammoth, were handed to each of the audience, to feel the weight and size.
These were followed by flint implements, with sharp cutting edges, and smooth portions
which could be grasped bv the hand. The audience soon found out how to " grip "
them. Then came the pottery of the Ancient Britons, some of which had been polished
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131
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with a bone, and even the bone itself which had been used for this purpose. A Roman
" mortarium " for grinding food to a pulp was also submitted, and handled with great
intelligence. The demonstration concluded with a tinder box, complete with flint and
steel, and finally a rushlight holder and candlestick combined. A very enjoyable hour
was spent, and the party hopes to repeat the visit at some future date, and explore still
further the treasures of the Salisbury Museum.
Blind Rover Scouts at Birmingham.
The Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind has provided Birmingham with
its first batch of Rover Scouts.
Troups of Scouts and Cubs have been in existence for some time at the Institution
in Carpenter Road, Edgbaston, but last month seven boys were initiated as Rovers by
Mr. E. H. Thompson, Assistant Rover Commissioner for Birmingham.
Some of the seven Rovers are sightless, but all are looking forward to spending a
week-end in camp at Himley Park with the Edgbaston Rovers in the near future.
Blind Woman's " Thankoffering " to Bradford Institution.
Fifty shares of £1 each in a mill company have been bequeathed to the Royal
Institution for the Blind. Bradford, by Maria Cryer " as a thankoffering for the
attention shown to her after she lost her eyesight."
The Bradford Blind Persons Act Committee have stated to the executors that
the bequest will be allocated for the provision and maintenance of a social institute
for blind persons, or for some other suitable blind welfare purpose.
Commander Southby, M.P., Presses Cheapening of Postal Rates on Braille Paper.
In the Committee stage of the Post Office and Telegraph (Money) Bill, Commander
Southby asked whether " it would be possible in the improvement of the postal service
for a certain amount of money voted now to be used in cheapening the postage on Braille
paper for the blind." The question was, however, considered by the Chairman to be
out of order.
Esperanto Examination in Braille.
Miss Edith Rogers, of Pendleton, a blind member of the Salford Esperanto group,
last month sat for the examination of the Royal Society of Arts in Esperanto (elementary)
at Salford. Miss Rogers's paper was in Braille, and she wrote her answers on the Braille
frame. This is the first time Esperanto has been included in the syllabus of the Royal
Society of Arts.
Twenty-Five Years' Service with the Barclay Workshops.
Mrs. Hattersley Ward, Superintendent of the Barclay Workshops for Blind Women,
was presented with an arm chair on the 15th May, as a mark of appreciation on her
completion of twenty-five years' valuable service as Superintendent of the Workshops.
The presentation was made by the Viscountess Chelmsford, on behalf of the Committee,
of which she is Chairman.
Amalgamation Negotiations of Two London Workshops Discontinued.
The Incorporated Association for Promoting the General Welfare of the Blind,
Tottenham Court Road, has issued a statement announcing that the negotiations for
the amalgamation of the Incorporated Association with the London Society for
Teaching and Training the Blind, Swiss Cottage, have been discontinued.
Reappointment of Advisory Committee on the Welfare of the Blind.
In view of the continued developments in the work among the blind owing to the
operation of the Blind Persons Act, 1920, and the Local Government Act, 1929, and
the new problems constantly arising in connexion with this service, the Minister of
PAGE
132
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Health has reappointed the advisory Committee on the Welfare of the Blind for a further
period of office. The Committee has been constituted so as to afford representation
to the local authorities concerned with the working of the Blind Persons Act, 1920, and
to voluntary associations for the blind, as well as to organised blind workers. The
following have been appointed members of the Committee :— Lord Blanesburgh (chair-
man), Mr. P. M. Evans (vice-chairman), Councillor W. Asbury, Mrs. Montagu Brown,
Mr. E. W. Cemlvn-Jones, Alderman Mrs. Chambers, Councillor J. Clvdesdale, Mrs. I.
Cowley, Dr. A. Eichholz, Mr. J. Graham, Mr. D. Hardaker, Dr. S. J. C. Golden, Mr. T.
"Holt, Miss L. King, Councillor E. H. Lee, Mr. W. F. Marchant, Dr. J. Middleton Martin,
Mr. G. F. Mowatt, Mr. F. T. Owen, Mr. Ben Purse, Dr. J. M. Ritchie and Mr. \Y. I 1 .
Tate.
The Committee will advise the Minister on matters relating to the care and super-
vision of the blind, including any question that may be specially referred to them by the
Minister. Mr. F. M. Chapman of the Ministry of Health, will act as secretary.
Municipalisation of Bradford Royal Institution Formally Completed.
Last month the municipalisation of the Bradford Royal Institution for the Blind
was formally completed.
In the presence of the Minister of Health (Mr. Arthur Greenwood), Mr. A. C. Day,
on behalf of the Institution, handed to the Lord Mayor (Alderman Alfred Pickles) the
keys and documents.
Mr. Day said the day brought him no regrets and no fears. Although voluntaryism,
from the standpoint of finance, had decreased, it had increased from the standpoint of
service. There was still an opportunity for private wealth, if it wished to help them to
establish a Social Institute for the Blind.
Mr. J. W. Flanagan received the documents from the Lord Mayor on behalf of the
Blind Persons Act Committee, of which he is chairman.
Mr. Greenwood said : " Now, what has been the willing responsibility of individuals
who were interested, becomes what ought to be the proudly-borne burden of the whole
community."
Remarking that it was a good thing that in recent years the number of young blind
had decreased in Bradford, he said : " But I am not satisfied yet that we have, through
our care of the newly-born, through our infant welfare and medical service, done
everything that we ought to do to ensure that blindness shall be prevented where it can
be prevented.
" If there is one form of disgraceful social waste that hurts me more than another, it
is to see preventable suffering, and preventable blindness is a crime of which we ought
not to be guilty."
Care of the blind was now brought into the real field of the social services of the city.
From that he believed good would come, and it might be that closer association with the
public health service would enable us to understand more than we did to-day the problems
of blindness.
Mr. Greenwood added that while there was now a security which, in the appeal to
voluntary subscriptions, one never enjoyed, there was a possible danger of gaining
something in security but losing something in sympathy.
" I am a very good municipaliser myself, and I believe our municipal authorities are
very effective pieces of administrative machinery. But in dealing with persons you need
more than the machine. You do need the human touch, and I hope that all the voluntary
service which has been so willingly given in the interests of the blind in the past will be
at the service of the local authority now, and I hope that the local authority will welcome
that service."
Mr. Frederick Priestman, who for 38 years was chairman of the Institution, and is
now in his 95th year, also spoke.
PAGE
133
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NEW YORK WORLD CONFERENCE
A
Summing-up of Discussions.
the International Conference on Work for the Blind, held at New York in
April, discussions took place on the important subjects of Technical Aids
and Provisions, Social Services, Employment, and Education. We give
below the summing-up of each discussion, made by the rapporteur appointed
for each subject.
TECHNICAL AIDS AND PROVISIONS.
Rapporteur : A. C. ELLIS,
Superintendent, American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, Kentucky,
The discussion of the general topic of
technical aids and provisions falls into four
main divisions as follows :
i. The nature, purpose and value of
museums for the blind ;
2. Appliances, apparatus and special
devices for the use of the blind ;
3 . Processes, methods and machinery used
in the production of embossed litera-
ture ; and
4. The circulating library and its problem
of collecting and distributing embossed
literature.
Museums for the blind may be classified
into two groups ; first, is the large group or
collection of object-teaching materials to be
used in the instruction of blind children. This
type of museum is being replaced by the
practice of permitting the blind children to
examine real and live objects of everyday life
in their natural environments. Aside from
collections of object-teaching materials, we
have a second type of collection which is of a
purely historical nature. Such collections
contain pictures of the blind, appliances,
apparatus, embossed books, articles made by
and for the blind, and such books and articles
as may have been written by or about the
blind. This type of museum should be
complete enough to enable the investigator to
study the progress of efforts in behalf of the
blind in all countries over a period of many
years. Such collections should present, at
once, the results of past efforts and past
experiences in this field. Happily, serious
students are making these collections the
subject of extensive educational research, and
much literature of a scientific nature is being
produced as a result of these investigations.
At the World Conference on Work for the
Blind were exhibited many appliances for the
PAGE
J34
use of the blind. The fact was most obvious
that many useful appliances known and
widely used in one country were almost
totally unknown and unused in other countries.
Here again is manifest the need for a greater
dissemination of useful information relative
to such appliances as might be of a wider
usefulness if made known to all the blind
everywhere. A central, international agency
could very properly collect, improve, manu-
facture, advertise and distribute such appli-
ances to the great advantage of the blind.
The question of printing Braille literature
is one of vital interest to all who work for the
blind. The past twenty years have witnessed
a marked improvement in the quality and a
corresponding increase -in quantity of em-
bossed literature. The perfection of speedy
and accurate plate-making machines ; the
adaptation of high speed, automatic feed
power presses ; the introduction of modern
bindery methods and machinery ; generous
grants of money to promote printing and the
general acceptance of interpoint printing have
all contributed to more and cheaper literature.
However, we must record the fact that Braille
books are still so bulky as to constitute a grave
problem as to storage and distribution. The
small editions required result in relatively high
prices. With all of the improvements in
printing we must admit that it is still impos-
sible to give to the blind individual libraries ;
indeed, it is impossible to even provide in
circulating libraries all of the books in Braille
that the blind should like to read. It seems
that we must continue to do research in an
attempt to find new and better methods of
conveying to the blind the material of the
printed page. With the recent developments
in sound recording and sound reproduction
by mechanical means it is to be hoped that
BEACON
the best in all literature can be recorded on a
steel tape and reproduced in sound for the
blind, thereby relieving them of the tedious
necessity of reading by touch. Many enthu-
siasts are ready to hope that such a sound-
recording and reproducing device may prove
a solution to the problem of conveying
literature to the blind. It is argued that such
a process will be more satisfactory, less
expensive and less bulky.
In other quarters, we find highly intelligent
scientific investigators busily engaged in
perfecting an electrical device which auto-
matically transcribes in code from the
printed page to an embossed page. This
device, it is hoped, will transcribe any printed
page accurately and rapidly, enabling the
blind, thereby, to read at once from any
inkprint book ! To those of us who are
engaged in producing embossed literature by
present methods, these before-mentioned
devices seem, at first, just a bit fanciful.
However, after witnessing demonstrations of
these devices, one, however sceptical, must
admit that it is not improbable that we are
soon to witness entirely new methods of
approach to literature for the blind which will
enable them to interpret the printed page with
ease, facility, pleasure and at a cost so low as
to make possible individual collections of
books or sound-reproducing apparatus, as the
case may be.
Passing now to the question of circulating
libraries, we approach the subject which
provoked a great deal of discussion and led
to the expression of widely divergent opinions.
As a general principle, it seems that the
establishment and maintenance of such
libraries depend largely upon two factors ; the
number of blind readers and their peculiar
literary tastes ; and the amount of money
available for printing. With these two factors
determined, a question of policy arises :
Shall we publish many titles and fewer copies
of each ; or shall we select fewer and, pre-
sumably, more select titles and provide more
copies ? The production of many titles in
smaller editions makes for a greater production
cost, as this policy precludes the possibility
of large scale production.
It is evident that many nations have pro-
duced large catalogues of embossed literature.
The time has come when a Braille reader need
not be confined to the limitations of the
Braille literature of his own country, or even
of his own language. Circulating libraries are
receiving an ever increasing number of re-
quests for books in foreign languages. Each
nation is developing a catalogue of its publi-
cations and it is time that an international
clearing house should take over the function
of collecting the various national catalogues
and dissemination of information as to where
books in any language or on any subject may
be obtained.
There is also need in each country for
special circulating libraries built around
special subjects. In the United States, for
instance, one large circulating library might
collect and advertise foreign books ; another
might build up a large catalogue of music ;
another could become pre-eminent in science
and mathematics ; while still another might
direct its attention to the circulation of
religious literature, and so on, until all special
subjects are exhausted. This practice would
eliminate costly duplication of titles in the
several libraries, develop large collections on
a given subject and greatly improve the
service to Braille readers.
The interchange of books and plates
between peoples speaking the same language
is seriously proposed ! It is urged that such
a practice will prevent duplications and
result in an increased number of titles
available to readers ; but when we consider
the different standards of printing in the
various countries we are impressed with the
fact that, in order to have any considerable
interchange of books, we must have a certain
uniformity of standards as to quality and cost.
For instance, in one country the quality of the
dot is of first consideration and the grade of
paper and type of binding are matters of
secondary importance. In another country
only expensive papers and attractive bindings
are used. Therefore, the price per volume of
books will vary so greatly between countries as
to make impracticable any interchange of
books ; for, obviously, no country would give
two volumes for one in an exchange. Not
until books are produced according to uni-
form standards as to : type, materials, size
and quality of print may we expect a free and
satisfactory exchange of books between nations
speaking a common language.
In conclusion, it may be stated that all of
the discussions on the subject of this report
pointed conclusively to the need for inter-
national co-operation. A central bureau,
acting under the auspices of an international
PAGE
135
BEACON
organization could render invaluable service
by serving as a clearing house. This bureau
could :
i. Maintain a complete catalogue of the
materials in all of the historical
museums for the blind and publish
bibliographies to aid students who are
doing research in this field.
2. Collect, improve, advertise and dis-
tribute appliances and devices for the
blind.
3 . Collect and publish information relative
to standards of embossing, printing and
binding Braille books.
4. Maintain an international catalogue of
Braille publications showing where any
publication may be obtained.
These considerations alone would justify
an international bureau.
SOCIAL SERVICES.
Rapporteur : W. McG. EAGAR,
Secretary-General of the National Institute for the Blind, London, England.
The subject which I have been asked to
report on, Social Services, falls, as things have
turned out, into three parts : The first part of
the subject matter relates to those practical
matters of social action which are concerned
with the prevention of blindness and with
saving sight ; the second part deals with the
theory and practice of home teaching and
home visiting ; and the third rises to the
more abstract sphere wherein are discussed
the big political questions — What is the
attitude of the state to the blind, and what is
the attitude of the blind to the State ? All
these must be dealt with in the time at my
disposal.
On the first, the practical question of
preventing blindness and saving sight, we had
two papers from Mrs. Hathaway and Dr.
Merida Nicolich which, I venture to say, are
contributions of permanent value to this
subject. I need do no more than express our
appreciation, first, of the papers themselves,
and secondly, of the obviously efficient and
energetic work being done in this country by
the National Society for the Prevention of
Blindness under Mr. Carris and his Associate
Director, Mrs. Hathaway.
The interest of the blind in the Prevention
of Blindness was pithily expressed by Capt.
Baker in the discussion which followed the
papers : " We are a select class," he said,
" and we are not anxious to see our numbers
added to."
The logical result, or the logical sequence,
of this remark and of the general tenor of our
discussion is that we have arranged that the
new International Council for the Blind shall
co-operate at every possible point with the
International Association for the Prevention
of Blindness which is already housed in Paris.
PAGE
136
On the next division of my subject matter,
the theory and practice of home teaching and
home visiting, we had a paper from Miss
Merivale who, with a human touch and a
literary ability which we all admired, drew a
picture of a comprehensive and practical
scheme in working.
The impression — I hope my American
friends will forgive me — the impression that
I think we all have obtained during our talk
and our many discussions with others engaged
in similar work in this country is that in
England, that country of which Miss Merivale
wrote, we are some years ahead of America in
this matter of home teaching and home
visiting. I hope I shall not be put on the spot
for saying that. By way of extenuation of
what might be regarded as a boast, I would add
that our problem in England is much easier.
That was brought home to us vividly when
we went to that great State of Pennsylvania,
and were told that it was nearly equal to
England and Wales in area and that the blind
population of that area — about one-eighth, I
think, of the blind population of England and
Wales — had to be served by seven home
teachers. We have, if I remember rightly,
some 450 teachers for a similar area.
It is obvious, and it is one of the things
which kept coming to our minds during the
course of this Conference, that the problem
of dealing with the blind in their own homes
is much harder in countries where the popu-
lation is sparse and scattered, and much
easier where you can get the blind population
closely concentrated in such an area as can be
covered by a single person or a group of
persons.
How to cover vast territories and sparsely
populated countries is not for us to say. But
BEACON
we may properly emphasise that there is a
technique of home visiting and home teaching,
a quite distinct technique, and that skill in
home visiting and home teaching is funda-
mental to all work in the welfare of the blind.
You must not — we must not — draw our
blind away from their homes more than is
strictly necessary. We must, if possible,
bring up our blind children in an atmosphere
where they get the advantages and the benefits
of family life, and, perhaps, make the sacrifices
that family life entails, because the school of
life is the school both of opportunity and of
sacrifice. Home visiting and home teaching,
therefore, are fundamental ; there is a
technique of home visiting and home teaching
which, perhaps, we have developed more
fully in England than elsewhere. It seems
essential that you should be able to call on
home teachers and home visitors who are
qualified for their work.
That is all I have time to say on the second
part of the subject. Let us come to the third
part, the relation of the Blind and the State.
On that I do not think any of us will say
that we have reached a final decision. There
is a real controversy, there is a real difference,
in political theory between Capt. Fraser, on
the one hand, and Monsieur Guinot, on the
other. And involved in the general theory is
the practical question of Pensions, on which
we heard an admirably categorical and
logical paper from Dr. Gaebler-Knibbe.
The discussion on Pensions was, in my
judgment, the best discussion that we have
had during the Conference. It reached and
maintained a high level ; but, as is typical of
so many discussions in this baffling world
of ours, there was confusion all the way
through because the term which was being
argued was ill-defined. We found at the
round table that some people interpreted
pensions as being something which came late
in life, and others interpreted it as meaning
any sort of allowance whatever made by the
State to no-longer-employable, employable, or
unemployable blind persons. But one
definite conclusion was reached : that no one
wants pensions which destroy the incentive
to work. Pensions of that kind lead to
pauperization and to the bankruptcy of
constructive work for the blind.
What everyone wants is that the State should
recognize that the handicap of blindness can
be compensated for without in any way
bringing the persons compensated within the
scope of the Poor Law of the country
concerned.
On the theoretical question involved, M.
Guinot made it very clear that, in his opinion,
something other than " philanthropy " is
needed. (If anybody is puzzled by the word
" typhlophile " used by M. Guinot, I
suggest that there is no translation of it except
" philanthropy for the blind " ; it is a purely
French coinage.) He is quite clear that
something other than philanthropy is needed ;
but he left most of us in doubt as to whether
that something can be obtained by the means
which he advocates.
To save time, I would use to M. Guinot an
unabashed argumentum ad hominem. M.
Guinot referred, dangerously, to the history
of blind work in England. He said that the
Blind Persons Act of 1920 was gained by a
procession of blind persons led from the
provinces to London. In point of fact, this
procession was only an episode in a long
story, too long to relate here and now, but the
leader of that procession was Mr. Ben Purse,
who is known to many of you and who is the
highly trusted head of a department in the
National Institute for the Blind in London.
Now, in Mr. Ben Purse's own mind, as his
knowledge has deepened and his experience
has widened, there has gone on a very consid-
erable change, and I should be very much
surprised if the opinions of M. Guinot do not
go through a similar change before many
years have passed.
Now, M. Guinot demands for the blind
" economic security," and at first we rather
wondered what that meant. When he came
to define it we found, in fact, that he was
asking for the French blind a programme
practically indistinguishable from the
programme provided by the Blind Persons
Act in Great Britain.
If " economic security," however, means
pensions from childhood, we have received a
very definite warning from Mr. Hedger of
Australia that a pension given from childhood
may have the effect of depriving the youngster
of the incentive to work, and so may destroy
his life, mentally and morally, from the
beginning.
We reach the conclusion that philanthropy
is required ; but that philanthropy is not
enough. The state should underpin the whole
fabric of blind welfare by financial and
administrative aid. That is actually the gist
of the Blind Persons Act in England, and in
PAGE
137
BEACON
effect is the programme set out by M. Guinot
in his paper.
I must now briefly refer to the underlying
political theory. M. Guinot rose in the
discussion and said, quite frankly, that he
disagreed entirely with Capt. Fraser's political
theory. It is perhaps natural that a country-
man of Rousseau should have a particularly
strong idea of natural rights, but I want to
remind M. Guinot that the whole doctrine
of natural rights is part of the doctrine of the
social contract, and that the exaction of rights
for the individual depends upon the perform-
ance of duties by the individual to the
community of which he is a part. If the first
duty of the state is to enable the blind person
to contribute to its economic, intellectual and
moral well-being, it is also the first duty of the
blind person to make his contribution. This
doctrine affects our attitude towards the
public who, after all, constitute the State. We
have to teach the public that the blind are
more than a social emotion. We have to
beware of provoking the public into estimating
the weight of the blind as a political force.
In M. Guinot's arguments there is a
wholesome astringency ; but there is also
latent in them, I venture to think, a very great
danger to the future of blind work. The
welfare of the blind, as Dr. Strehl said
admirably in the discussion, " demands the
co-operation of the state, philanthropy and
the blind themselves." That is the tripod on
which work for the blind must rest, and if any
one of these legs is taken away we must
labour to make good the defect.
In some countries it is not a question of
taking away a leg ; it is a question of con-
structing a leg. And that is the task which
obviously lies before some countries in Latin-
America, and others where the state has not
yet recognised its responsibilities in the matter
Without the state, philanthropy, working for
and with the blind, is weak. Without the
blind as an organised and articulate force,
philanthropy, supplanted by the state, falls
short in understanding and lacks moral
authority. Without philanthropy, the blind
can expect and, in the long run, will obtain
only a bare recognition and an assistance
which must be undiscerning and undis-
criminating, and, therefore, to a large extent
futile.
I wish I had time to refer more fully to
Capt. Fraser's paper. Apart from the
unceremonious treatment which he gave to
the doctrine of natural rights, he gave us a
valuable and interesting summary of the Blind
Persons Act of 1920, which I venture to
mention again because my friend Prof. Villey
and others tell me that they would like to see
that Act transferred bodily to their own
statute books.
After all, Ladies and Gentlemen, legislation
is the practical expression of the relationship
of blind persons to the .community. M.
Guinot's programme is, in effect, the English
Blind Persons Act of 1920. Capt. Fraser's
principles permit him to admire that Act
without reservations. And so we come to
this comforting conclusion at the end of our
day's work : that, even if we are pulled apart
in our theories, when we come down to
practical action we agree.
EDUCATION.
Rapporteur: Miss M. M. R. GARAWAY
College of Teachers of the Blind, England.
Introduction :
I think that the feelings that are uppermost
in the minds of all of us who have had the
unique pleasure of the trip that is just ended
are those of gratitude for all the extraordinary
kindness which has been showered upon us,
for the thoughtful consideration which has
foreseen and supplied every want even before
we were conscious of it ourselves, the readi-
ness to show us all and everything we could
desire and to answer the stream of questions
with which we have sometimes, I fear, nearly
overwhelmed those who were in charge of the
different sections of the work.
The result has been that we have acquired
a wealth of information, all of which takes
far more time to assimilate than we have been
able to give. We have continually had the
feeling that we have touched but the fringe of
the matter in hand and that we should be
amply repaid and be able to speak with far
more assurance had we been able to devote to
it ten times the amount of time which has
been at our disposal.
I think we have all been filled with admir-
ation, and, I fear, sometimes with envy of the
beautiful education buildings and equipment
PAGE
138
BEACON
that you have time after time shown us. We
all recognise that fine buildings do not of
necessity mean fine work, but they certainly
make it more easy to accomplish and enable
you to put a finish which it is otherwise
difficult to obtain. The spaciousness and
beautiful settings of your residential schools
has appealed to us all ; so, too, does the
charming tone which appears to prevail on
all sides and the easy movement and good
carriage of the pupils due to the excellent
physical training which they receive ; while
the domestic science training for which such
adequate provision is made seems to us well
above the average.
Out of the Tour of Visitation and the
Conference that preceded it arise several
questions and points of discussion that have
been debated by most of us during our
journeyings :
i. Social organization in residential
schools for the blind ;
2. The education of the blind in the public
schools for the seeing ;
3. The education of the deaf-blind ;
4. The training of teachers of the blind ;
and
5. Vocational training.
1 . Social Organisation in Residential Schools
for the Blind :
I am not for the moment dealing with
the education of blind children in classes
attached to the public schools for the seeing,
but comparing clay schools for the blind
with residential schools for the same class of
children.
Opinion appears to be unanimous that
nothing can replace in the life of the child the
influences and benefits of a good home, but
since it is also generally agreed that circum-
stances often make residential schools a
necessity, or at least a desirability, the question
rather is how best to diminish the attendant
difficulties.
The reply universally given is — as much
freedom and as many outside influences as
possible. Suggestions for outer contacts are
numerous : such as, Scouts and Guides or
Camp Fire meetings, particularly when the
Scouts or Guides are officered other than by
officials of the school ; the attending of
churches and church functions, with their
resulting friendships ; the encouragement of
intercourse with the children from schools for
the seeing ; the fostering of competitive games
with other schools, especially such games as
those in which the blind can excel and find
themselves at no disadvantage, such as chess,
rowing, swimming, etc. ; the formation of
school orchestras which perform outside of
the school and bring their members into close
touch with other people ; the allowing the
pupils to go out alone or in pairs, one who
has partial sight taking one who is quite
blind, and going for walks in the neighbour-
hood of the schools.
It was also frequently stressed that rules and
regulations within the schools should be
reduced to a minimum. There should be
the fewest possible number of negations.
Individuality and the spirit of adventure
should be encouraged and not unduly
repressed. Risks must be taken and are
preferable to safeguards if the price of the
latter is serious loss of new experience.
Another factor is the value of as much self-
government as possible and the absolute need
of the formative influence of responsibility
with the sense of independence.
On the credit side of the residential schools
must be put the fact that the life is frequently
much healthier than the home life of the
children could be. Better food, more sleep
and exercise than a blind child gets in his
home, a firmer discipline and plenty of
occupation out of school hours all tend to
make a stronger and healthier development
in the critical years of life than is possible in
a poor home, which is the type of home from
which so many blind children come.
2 . Education of the Blind in the Public Schools
for the Seeing :
No work has been examined with greater
interest than the education of the blind child
in the public schools for the seeing ; and the
enthusiasm for this system of education of
those who have adopted it is remarkable.
To some of us who examine it for the first
time it appears to react extremely favourably
in some cases. For able and self-reliant
children better results are possibly obtained
through these means than could be obtained
by any other course of training. Such pupils
leave school with more normal reactions than
you will find in children educated in a special
school ; but, for children who are less
generously endowed naturally, it seems to us
that the residential school will probably offer
better possibilities, such children being less
able to rise above their handicap and to hold
their place among their seeing companions.
PAGE
139
BEACON
We find that some educators strongly
recommend that the early education of the
child should be provided by the residential
school, and that when the foundations of his
education have been firmly laid and he has
made his medium — Braille — entirely his own,
and provided he is suited to the other type of
instruction, his later education should be
carried on with the seeing in the public school.
This course of action seems to us to have
much to recommend it, and we are inclined
to think it might provide the best results.
Obviously, the home conditions of the
child need very careful consideration, and the
success of the public school education must
depend very largely upon the success in
handling the home situation. In cases where
the conditions are bad, and the parents not
responsive to advice and guidance, it is pretty
sure that the opportunities and advantages of
the residential school will outweigh those
offered by the public school, the good food,
ordered life, careful training and free exercise
given by the former being the most important
considerations.
3 . The education of the deaf -blind :
The deaf-blind can be divided into three
classes :
(a) Those born without either sense ;
(b) Those born deaf and later becoming
blind ; and
(c) Those born blind and later becoming
deaf.
It is the first class with which it is most
difficult to deal. In the second and third
classes a mode of approach already exists and
does not need to be made with infinite patience
and care ; the necessary new knowledge can
be added to what is already there.
It appears to be generally agreed that the
best teaching for that most difficult class,
those deprived from birth of both senses, is
to be found either in a special school for such
cases, or failing that, first in a residential
school for the deaf followed by training in a
similar school for the blind. In the school for
the deaf the special instruction in speech and
the use of the manual alphabet can be most
easily obtained. The child should be taught
not only to speak, but to read speech by
touch from the lips and even from the chest
and back of the neck. When that most
difficult work of speech training has been
accomplished and avenues opened up, training
in a school for the blind can follow ; the
further work of mind training can be at-
PAGE
140
tempted and through Braille he can be intro-
duced to the world of books.
All training must be practical, and as many
simple domestic duties as possible introduced,
so that the doubly handicapped child can take
his place in the family life to the fullest extent
of which he is capable. Service may become
for him a means of expressing his personality.
The education of a deaf-blind child is
necessarily expensive. Ideally, and if funds at
all permit it, he should have not only a special
teacher who should not himself be handi-
capped, but also a special companion as
attendant who will walk and play with him
and generally interest him in his surroundings.
These conditions, however, are beyond the
reach of many educators of the" deaf-blind who
nevertheless, are able to do excellent work.
In many countries schools for the deaf-
blind exist. Frequently, also, these are
homes in which the deaf-blind continue to
live, work and, to some extent, earn their
livings, following such occupations as they are
able. The number of children being educated
at any one time is small and apparently
ranges from one to six.
4. Training of Teachers of the Blind :
There is no question as to the desirability
of training teachers of the blind. In Germany
and Italy, for instance, training is done
systematically. There and in England all
teachers of the blind must first be fully
qualified as teachers of the seeing. They are
also required to pass a special examination as
teachers of the blind, although England has
no organised course of training except for
blind teachers at the Royal Normal College.
In America, there is a comprehensive
course in connection with Harvard University
and Perkins Institution and Massachusetts
School for the Blind. It covers a period of
six months. Lectures are given on all subjects
connected with the work. There are also
appropriate demonstrations and a fully pre-
scribed course of reading. This course can
be followed by a second, also of six months'
duration. Then the students are assigned to
classes for practical work and have definite
teaching practice under supervision. Not
only this, but they live in the Institution and
thus gain valuable experience of all kinds.
There are also training courses for home
teachers, as, for instance, at the Pennsylvania
Institution for the Instruction of the Blind in
Philadelphia. Here a two year course is
provided. The first year it is carried on at
BEACON
he school itself and covers such subjects as
he Moon system, handicrafts, deaf manual
ind the history of the education of the blind.
rhe second year the course is carried on in
connection with the Philadelphia Social
Welfare Centre, and casework, racial differ-
ences, hygiene, etc., are studied.
In England all home teachers are obliged to
3ass a qualifying examination, but again
:here is no organised course of training.
;. Vocational Training :
Another vexed question is the amount of
vocational training to be introduced before
:he age of sixteen when, in many countries,
compulsory elementary education ceases.
When a student remains at school until
eighteen or twenty the question becomes even
nore urgent. It is felt by many that for those
:or whom an academic course is going to be
xit of the question, a course with a vocational
bias should be introduced well before the
school-leaving age is reached ; that it is a
mistake to educate the child to even a
moderately high standard and then to turn
him out to sink or swim as the case may be ;
and that fairly early in his career his probable
life work should be considered and his
education and training shaped so as best to
fit him for his future, whatever it may be.
Such a considered course makes the work of
placement much easier and when complete
industrial training is undertaken a sacrifice of
much valuable time is avoided.
In determining the nature of the vocational
training to be pursued, due consideration
must be given to the pupils' preferences,
aptitude and the type of work most profitable
in the district in which they will eventually
live ; and again, whether they will be
employed in a workshop or as home workers.
EMPLOYMENT.
Rapporteurs : S. C. SWIFT, Librarian, Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Toronto,
Canada ; UMAjfl AKIBA, President, Tokyo School for the Blind, Tokyo, Japan.
We have understood our duty as your
rapporteurs to be the crystallization of opinion
imong the delegates to the World Conference
?n Work for the Blind in the sphere of
employment, and with this understanding we
liave prepared the present report.
Placement :
Among the papers presented to the Con-
ference on April 15th perhaps none aroused
more interest and excited more discussion
than that on Placement.
Opinion in America appeared to be almost
a unit in favour of the idea of placement as
jet forth in that paper, while some European
delegates were also enthusiastic. Others,
however, were doubtful of the practicability
of voluntary placement on a large scale in the
Old World, either because of lack of prece-
dents, or because of the existence of prejudice
against the blind outside those occupations
which have come to be considered as the
peculiar sphere of the sightless ; or because of
the great amount of educative propaganda
required to induce a favourable attitude on
the part of employers ; or, finally, because of
varying views as to the duty of the state
towards the blind. It was felt that individual-
istic countries could not readily assimilate a
scheme of obligatory placement, notwith-
standing the undoubted fact that placements
under this latter system would be many times
in excess of those under the voluntary method
in use in America, and, to some extent,
elsewhere. It was quite generally agreed,
however, that placement as opposed to
employment in the sheltered workshop offered
greater opportunity of developing a completely
normal life because of the absence of financial
consideration made to the employee on
account of his handicap. The blind man or
woman thus situated finds himself in direct
and more or less unassisted competition with
the sighted and knows that success depends
upon himself alone.
In placement work, either voluntary or
obligatory, the placement officers must be men
of especial ability and force of character,
while the individuals placed must be, if we
may use the expression, hand picked. The
confidence of the employer must be secured
and held, and no failures can be permitted to
check it. This confidence can be more
quickly gained if the blind can be admitted to
the benefits of workmen's compensation
legislation. Such a desideratum has been
reached in the Province of Ontario, Canada,
and it is confidently expected that in that
section still greater numbers of placements will
be made in general industry than heretofore,
once the present economic depression has
passed.
PAGE
I4I
BEACON
But there is one class of placements which,
though dependent for its returns on the state
of general trade, is not influenced by legal
restrictions ; we are referring to what in
America are known as stand concessions. The
great success of this form of placement
recommends it strongly to the attention of
the friends of the blind and to the blind
themselves. It was considered that every
successful placement of any kind whatever in
occupations formerly thought to belong
exclusively to the domain of sight is, at the
same time, a genuine investment and educa-
tive force and enlightened social service.
Special Shop :
But it was acknowledged that placement does
not offer a solution of the whole problem of
the blind ; there will always remain a large
number (possibly the majority) of the employ-
able blind who will have to be treated in' a
different way. This way seems to be the
special or sheltered shop. With regard to this
factor of the problem, opinions as to its
present efficiency and ultimate fate were
almost as numerous as the constellations of
heaven and as far apart as the Pole Star and
the Southern Cross. Your rapporteurs were
assured, for instance, that the special shop was
a complete failure and should be abolished,
its place being taken by a combination of
some form of placement, relief and state
allowance ; while, on the other hand, it was
asserted that the blind could there be em-
ployed with perfect success and on a strictly
commercial basis. The most freely expressed
view, however, was that the sheltered shop as
at present constituted filled an important
place in the economic life of the blind and
should, therefore, be maintained at as high a
level of efficiency as possible. The defects
of the system are that shops are too numerous,
employing too few workers in each individual
case, and thus cutting down the size and
variety of orders which can be handled, and
greatly increasing the overhead cost by an
undue multiplication of plant and adminis-
trative charges. That this duplication of
effort is more or less inevitably due to the
desire of workers to live as closely as possible
to family and friends in familiar and loved
surroundings was recognised. Not only does
the small shop, generally speaking, not pay
its way, making augmentation of wages a
necessity, but it tends to restrict activity to a
few stereotyped lines, and the ability to meet
PAGE
142
the demands of the changing market is
limited. Could fewer and more centralized
shops be established, drawing their workers
from larger areas, it was contended that much
larger orders could be solicited and executed,
that a greater number of lines could be
handled, that ruts would be more easily
avoided, that more energetic and efficient
management could be engaged, that the
workers would receive higher actual pay, and
that the cost of administration would be
notably reduced in comparison with the
present wasteful duplication of executives.
Home Workers :
The problem of the home worker, always a
doubtful and difficult one to solve even
partially, was considered best handled by
having these workers, not as independent
craftsmen free to pick and choose the articles
they should make and the manner of then-
disposal, but as what would perhaps be
termed out workers. Thus, they would receive
orders from a central organisation which they
would execute according to specifications and
which they would deliver at an agreed date
and for an agreed price, acceptance depending
upon the excellence of manufacture. These
home workers would, of course, receive their
raw materials at cost from the organisation
giving the orders. But the condition of such
workers is at best a precarious one. Producing
for the most part, articles without the aid of
machinery, depending for orders upon the
state of an ever-changing popular demand and
upon the effectiveness and standing of the
central organisation, there are comparatively
few wrho can fully earn their livelihood. The
statement of Mr. Retsler of Sweden, that
machinery and mass production would soon
pronounce the sentence of extinction upon the
home worker, while, perhaps, not to be ranked
as inspired prophecy would, none the less,
appear to contain a large element of probability.
Music :
Prof. Villey's contention that music as a
profession for the blind was no longer as
attractive as formerly, owing to the radio, the
gramophone and the talking picture, etc., and
that great care should be taken to limit this
career to those with special gifts who should
be assisted in securing positions when ready
to begin the first business of earning their
bread — this contention finds almost unani-
mous support. During the Tour of Visitation
a striking proof of the truth of Prof. Villey's
BEACON
position was encountered. A really brilliant
musician, whom many among the American
delegates had often heard over the radio when
he was playing on circuit with one of the
largest moving picture syndicates, was found
operating a concession stand in a municipal
building. The " talkies " had thrown him
out of work, deprived him of an income of
between $5-6,000 a year and reduced him to
the necessity of selling cigars, candies, soft
drinks and chewing gum. If a man who is a
real artist, a composer of no mean ability and
who has sat at the controls of some of the best
organs of North America, if such a man
cannot withstand the onslaught of mechanical
music, what hope is there for the man with
less noble gifts and more imperfect training ?
Piano tuners are also sorely stricken by the
closing of many piano factories and the
scrapping of thousands of privately owned
pianos, all because of the radio and the
gramophone.
Positions of Trust :
The position of the blind in the various
divisions of their own industrial sphere was
expressed unanimously by the blind delegates
thus : Wherever a suitably qualified blind
executive can be found, he should be ap-
pointed. With this view we believe the
sighted delegates heartily concurred. As our
work becomes better organised and more
blind men and women are trained to responsi-
bility and direction, it is inevitable that more
and more positions of importance will be
filled by them. On the other hand, it is
recognised that the cause of the blind can
prosper only in proportion as it secures the
co-operation of the sighted, which will be ever
more generous and enthusiastic as the real
capabilities of the blind become better
understood . But the question of the aid of the
sighted is not confined to executive positions ;
it is also found in the employment division of
shop work. An added percentage of sighted
labour is acknowledged to be not only possible
but necessary if our smaller shops, in partic-
ular, are to become in a measure commer-
cialised in the true sense of the term.
Conclusion :
The Conference has proved an inspiration
to all, and it is confidently affirmed that
progress in the solution of our economic
problems will be everywhere accelerated by
the information obtained and the ideas
generated during the past three weeks. All
those in attendance at this Congress are
looking forward to the assembling of the next,
which it is hoped will not be too long delayed.
THE PRINCE'S APPEAL FOR THE
H
WIRELESS FUND
IS Royal Highness the Prince
of W'ales, President of the
British " Wireless for the
Blind " Fund, broadcast
an appeal for the Fund on
May 27th, when he was
the guest at a dinner given
by the Clothworkers' Company, at Cloth-
workers' Hall, Mincing Lane, London, E.C.
The Master of the Company, Dr. Arthur
Bousfield, welcoming the Prince of Wales, was
able to tell him that donations amounting to
£2,155 had already been received in response
to this special appeal.
The Prince of Wales, whose speech was
broadcast from B.B.C. stations and also
relayed to America, said he was proud to be
there as president of a fund which, since its
institution only about a year and a half ago,
had raised sufficient money to provide no less
than 13,000 specially designed sets for the
blind in this country.
Without the help of the B.B.C. the success
of the fund would have been impossible.
Many of the officials had given hours of their
spare time working for it. The B.B.C. was
always ready to do all in its power to help a
good cause, and we owed them a debt of real
gratitude.
The Prince paid a tribute to the lion,
treasurer, Mr. Reginald McKenna, and also to
" my friend Mr. Churchill, who has been
instrumental in raising the bulk of the money."
Mr. Churchill's two moving wireless appeals,
he said, resulted in donations of about
£17,000, and the cause of the blind could
hardly have been more eloquently pleaded.
The King had presented to the fund the
royalties from the record of his Naval
Conference speech, amounting to £400.
" This appeal has touched the hearts of the
British public," continued the Prince. " It
has induced countless people to subscribe
according to their means, but to achieve its
PAGE
H3
BEACON
full object the fund still needs a sum of
.£15,000. I like to think that we have listening
to-night the majority of the 13,000 blind
people who have received sets from the fund
during the last twelve months. I want you all
to visualise those 13,000 blind listeners. And
then, when the picture is clear in your mind's
eye, think of the 7,000 blind who are still
without sets.
" Mr. Churchill in his last appeal looked
forward to the day when the proud boast
might be made by Englishmen : ' All blind
persons have their wireless sets ; it is one of
the customs of the country.' He said that
most thoughtful men and women of every
party and of no party were perplexed and
anxious nowadays and all would like to do
something if they only knew what to help.
" Well, as he said, here is something for all,
a comparatively small thing perhaps, but a
cause about which there can be no shadow of
a doubt — to see that in this country at least
the blind are less unhappy than anywhere else
in the whole world. Surely we all wish to give
ourselves and Mr. Churchill on the next
anniversary of his appeal the satisfaction of
knowing that by then there is not a single
blind person in the country without the
inestimable benefits of wireless. I earnestly
appeal to all who can afford to help, in however
small a way, to send their contributions to the
fund. I can assure you that it will be money
well spent and I am confident that my appeal
will not be in vain."
The Lord Mayor, thanking the Prince, said
that the Fund had established a lasting link
of friendship between listeners with sight and
listeners without sight.
Captain Sir Beachcroft Towse, V.C., the
Chairman of the Fund, expressed the gratitude
of the blind listeners to the Prince for his
interest in the fund and for the inestimable
pleasure they derived from their wireless sets.
Had it not been for the Prince's presidency
of the fund he doubted whether they would
have had those sets.
" I do not know," Sir Beachcroft said, " if
you have realised what wireless means to the
blind ; they have a new happiness, a new light
and illumination." He stressed the value to
the people " who only exist in darkness " of
being put in touch with the happenings of the
world. " For them," he said, " it is an
alteration from black despair into a life in
which they can take a share."
PAGE
144
Captain Ian Fraser, Vice-Chairman of the
Fund, returned thanks to the Clothworkers'
Company and to Mr. Winston Churchill,
" not because he is a clothmaker, that is one
of the few trades, professions, occupations,
arts, crafts, and adventures to which he has
not been called, but because a great part of the
financial results obtained have been due to
Mr. Churchill's appeals."
In the history of the Clothworkers' Com-
pany, going back 500 years, said Captain
Fraser, benevolence had always been one of its
objects and blind people had always been
foremost in its thoughts. Their generosity to
the blind and their influence in the blind
world had greatly increased during the last
decade, and the reorganisation in the world of
the blind was due in no small measure to the
efforts of the Company's Clerk, Dr. Evans.
Mr. Churchill said, " This plan to make
sure that every blind person in our island has
a wireless set is, I think, upon the whole the
most water-tight and from every point of view
the most harmonious that could be devised.
Here is an immense area of sorrow and
deprivation, and a brand new method of
alleviating that sorrow and deprivation for a
sum of money that, even in these hard times,
must be considered incomparably small for
the results to be achieved. In regard to
material things, such as the world's markets,
the world's trade, it may be argued that what
one man gets is to the detriment of another.
But in the sphere of imagination where fancy
roams and thought reigns there is no clashing
of interests.
" When we think of all these blind people,
seven thousand of them, still waiting for the
sets, and of the enormous difference the
possession of wireless is going to make to their
lives, when we think of this great depressed
area, and when we think of our honoured
guest the Prince of Wales, that brilliant, vivid
personality upon whom the hopes of this
country are so largely centred, coming to the
aid of pitiable misfortune, we feel it is a great
privilege to be here to-night and to take part
in a great work."
Mr. Churchill announced that the sub-
scriptions received at the dinner amounted
to £1,553. The total result of the Prince's
appeal, including the donations received
from listeners to date, amounts to nearly
£5.000.
cZfficZ\cw
Published by Mr II /\ f § 1 PV Editorial Offices:
the National w\. 1^ /"A I 1 I ^ 224 Grea' Por>-
Institute for 1 I / W i\ /|XJ land Street,
the Blind U JL^J V\ >^^_S 1 ^ London, W.\.
" YES, SIR, WE HAD A GOOD TIME ! "
DROPPING his pen without obvious reluctance, the Editor this month commands
a delegate fresh from New York to answer questions which everyone is putting
to him and his fellow travellers.
" Did we have a good time ? Yes, Sir ! Look at us — thin with overwork,
but mightily stimulated. Iced water by the gallon and ice cream by the
hogshead counteracted the too, too generous hospitality of our hosts. We
discussed a hundred problems in 37 languages, not only in the Conference
Hall, but in corridors and elevators, in the smoking-rooms of sleeping cars, in road-coaches,
drug stores, taxis and automobiles. The people of Philadelphia, Washington, Pittsburg, Cleve-
land and Boston, to say nothing of New Yorkers themselves, overwhelmed us with public and
private kindness. If we did have to listen to many speeches we inflicted more upon our hosts.
We heard good stories ; we told a few. We rubber-necked with eyes and ears. We told anxious
and persistent inquirers just what we thought of America — after 24 hours' experience of New
York ! And we wound up the proceedings with a polyglot, many-coursed banquet (washed
down, of course, with iced water), given by William Nelson Cromwell, of the American Braille
Press, and M. C. Migel, of the American Foundation for the Blind, where we pledged ourselves
to international co-operation in the cause which had brought us together. Yes, Sir, we had
a good time !
"And was the Conference a success ? We think so. It lacked one thing, it is true, the presence
of many stalwarts in the cause of the blind, who could not make the journey. But everyone
in the Blind World should profit by the contacts made, the understanding gained, and the friend-
ships formed. We learnt a lot by finding out how the other fellow does his job, and what his
job is, and from seeing our problems and our methods reflected for a moment in his mind.
Many of the Conference papers were contributions of permanent value ; the formal discussions
were of use primarily as starting points of discussion outside the Conference hall. The visits
to American schools, workshops, printing concerns, libraries and centres of social work were
an admirable antidote to the complacency which so easily, and so fatally, besets us all. The
gathering together of workers for the blind from so many countries obviously struck the imagin-
ation of Americans and should give considerable impetus to the development of the work for
the American blind. . . Envious ? No ; but what splendid equipment the generosity of
Americans has provided ! We have lots to learn and, by American standards, much still to get
for our English blind in the way of spaciousness, sufficiency of facilities and sheer amenity of
surroundings.
" Most particularly, there is the result of having formed a permanent organ by which the
World of the Blind may really act as a World Force. Nationalism, though always an incentive,
is none the less an obstacle to effective work in many directions. We were learning to think
internationally during the Conference, and the tour, when we travelled and fed together in an
incessant hubbub of many languages, fused us by the end of the month into a homogeneous
bodyfrom which a permanent World Council for the Blind naturally and properly resulted.
" The next number of The New Beacon will, I hope, contain full details of the organisation
and the programme of this body. It has vitally important work to do and, thanks to the gener-
osity of Mr. Cromwell and Mr. Migel, it should be able to do it. An Executive Committee
was appointed. An office has to be found in Paris. The right director has to be appointed.
Those who are responsible for its direction will have no easy task, but the World Council starts
its work with a mandate to carry into effect the recommendations of the World Conference.
On this occasion there were no ' Resolutions of the Conference.' There were instructions to
an executive body. That, I venture to think, is a result worth achieving, quite apart from the
other results which are to be expected as a matter of course from any gathering together of
men and women whose lives are being devoted to a great task, and which were most certainly
achieved this year in America." The Editor.
PAGE
H5
BEACON
OPENING OF "SUNSHINE HOUSE,"
EAST GRINSTEAD.
o
N May 18th, the new Sun-
shine Home for Blind
Babies at East Grinstead,
Sussex, was officially
opened by the Lady
Adelaide Colville.
The function was pre-
sided over by Captain Sir Beachcroft Towse,
V.C., Chairman of the National Institute for
the Blind, supported by the Vice-Chairman of
the Institute, Dr. P. M. Evans.
The Dedication ceremony was conducted
by the Rev. Canon C. E. Bolam, Hon. Chief
Chaplain of the Institute.
Sir Beachcroft Towse warmly welcomed
the many guests present and trusted that they
would be interested in the new Sunshine
Home. He was not asking for money, but
that they should take an interest in the work
the National Institute were endeavouring to
carry out. Some people admired babies,
others regarded them as a nuisance, but he felt
that the babies in that Home would not prove
a nuisance to anybody. That Home was to
cater for all the blind babies in the south of
England, and the Institute had set itself out
to look after them with sense and wisdom. In
"Oxford v. Cambridge" at East Grinstead.
every respect they could see it was a home and
not an institution. He paid a great tribute to
the staff to whom, he said, the work was a
labour of love. They had not a minute off
duty, for their eyes had to be ever watching
those little feet, which would soon come to
grief if left alone. Lady Adelaide Colville was
too well known to them to need introduction,
as was her ever- ready help to aid good causes.
Lady Adelaide, in a very charming speech,
declared " Sunshine Home," East Grinstead,
open. She was deeply sensible, she said, of
the honour Sir Beachcroft had afforded her in
asking that she should open that wonderful
new Home. Joy was the gift of God, and
they could all help to radiate happiness, and
that was what that Home was for. In the real
meaning of the word it was a Sunshine Home
and she had pleasure in declaring it open.
On the proposition of Dr. Evans, a warm
vote of thanks was accorded Lady Adelaide
Colville.
Admiral Sir Stanley Colville proposed a
sincere vote of thanks to Sir Beachcroft Towse,
who, he said, was a gallant and splendid man.
He had had the privilege of being his friend
of many years standing. Sir Beachcroft was
a man who said he was not going to be blind
and he never had been ; he
could see further than most
people.
The Chairman thanked Sir
Stanley Colville. He offered
also their grateful thanks to
Mr. Waters (Messrs. H. & E.
Waters, Forest Row), who had
already proved such a great
friend to the Home, and to the
Croydon Girl Guides for their
help.
There was a charming little
ceremony at the close, when two
of the blind children presented
Lady Adelaide with a beautiful
bouquet of flowers and a large
red carnation to the Chairman
and Sir Stanley Colville.
The East Grinstead Observer,
in reporting the ceremony,
said : " Sunshine babies have
come to East Grinstead and
PAGE
146
OS, Jfe,
BEACON
the town is proud to have them, for they
are the happiest, jolliest, and most lovable of
all babies. Those whose good fortune it
was to attend the opening ceremony were
charmed with all they saw.
" The National Institute could scarcely
have chosen a more delightful residence,
amidst such glorious Sussex scenery. Large,
well-kept lawns, surrounded by delightful
flower beds, overlooking the Ashdown Forest,
form the playground for these little blind
babies. When our representative arrived he
found a number as happy and bonny as
sandboys, playing together under the watchful
eye of the nurses. The interior of the house
presents a remarkable picture. The numerous
rooms are a blaze of colour and there is every
modern improvement ; class rooms, play
rooms, dormitories, bath room, a surgery ; in
fact, everything. The children have a
menagerie that contains every animal modelled
in rubber to scale."
CORRESPONDENCE
To the Editor.
A Dictionary in Braille.
Sir, — Your article in The New Beacon for
May 15th, questioning the advisability of
publishing a complete dictionary in Braille,
prompts me to state that although theoretically
it seems an excellent thing to have, yet its use,
when published, must necessarily be restricted
to those with leisure. It cannot be used to
advantage by students preparing for examin-
ations, or in preparing assignments for study.
In my own teaching experience I have
watched sightless High School and other
pupils struggling with Braille dictionaries for
Latin translation, French translation, and
work necessitating the use of a dictionary in
English. The task was most tiresome,
awkward and clumsy, and soon wore out the
patience of the student, who found, that
instead of doing the work he wanted to do, he
had to spend the better part of his time and
energy in juggling with Braille volumes too
large and cumbrous for easy handling. Study
under such conditions possesses more than
its ordinary terrors and despairs. Invariably
I have noticed that on the slightest chance the
Braille dictionary is dispensed with, and the
services of a friend with sight enlisted, who
can look up words, and give the information
required in a tenth of the time. So, too often,
the costly Braille dictionary is consigned to
the upper shelves of the Library, only to be
taken down on rare occasions.
A really useful spelling book would indeed
be a boon. For use in Schools, I would
recommend that the " Guide " Word Books
I — IV, published by Davis and Moughton,
Ltd., Birmingham, be brailled. Each could
easily be published within the compass of one
small volume. This, in addition to a book
with words listed alphabetically.
" Practical English," " Advanced English,"
and " Groundwork in French " are all
worthy of being put into Braille. I think,
however, there is a greater need for a course
in English for elementary schools, and I would
recommend " Cambridge Lessons in English,"
Books I — III by George Sampson, and
published by the Cambridge University
Press. English is a subject which tends to be
neglected in our schools, and I think that the
reason may partly be due to the absence of
any books in Braille giving a continuous
course.
Yours, etc.,
R. C. Phillips.
Royal Victoria School for the Blind,
Ben well Dene, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
To the Editor.
The Deaf-Blind Need Braille Magazines.
Sir, — I am very interested to read the
correspondence concerning the needs of the
deaf-blind. For some time I have been
interested to help where I could, but I do
find in so many cases that few deaf-blind
people have the pleasure of getting the
Braille magazines.
Many cannot afford them and many have
no relations to give them, so they are deprived
of this pleasure.
A few months back people were requested
to send their Braille magazines, when finished
with, to the Public Library in each town so
that others could read them, but so far no one
has done so in this town.
I often wonder if the time will come when
the Public Libraries will supply the Braille
magazines for all.
I hope some of your readers can assist in
this matter.
Yours, etc.,
Sussex. B. B.
PAGE
J47
BEACON
METHODS OF REMUNERATION.
D
By BEN PURSE.
URING the past few years
there has been a consider-
able amount of discussion
as to the rightful place to be
assumed by special work-
shops in the scheme of
welfare work on behalf of
the blind.
However critical we may seem to be about
the real economic utility of these organisations,
of one thing we may at least be assured, viz.,
that they have come to stay and must, there-
fore, be regarded as an integral part of any
scheme for social amelioration.
The establishment and development of
these workshops represents the first tangible
effort to encourage economic independence
among the blind and this movement continues
still to be the most definite, the most vital, and
at the same time, the most successful ap-
roach to the ideal form of self-reliance and
independence that has been witnessed during
the past 130 years.
The ever-changing conditions in industrial
life have fastened a heavy load of responsi-
ability on workshop managers ; but on the
whole, they have responded to the ever-varying
requirements with a facility that is quite
remarkable. We are sometimes disposed
thoughtlessly to criticise these undertakings
because of the heavy administrative charges
that are incurred by comparison with the
return made in the form of economic earnings:
but it is difficult to see how such circumstances
can be avoided unless and until the occupa-
tions or processes practised can be placed on
a much higher level than is at present
possible. We must all co-operate in an
effort to reduce the purely human element to
a minimum whilst requiring the maximum of
efficiency in production from the machine.
When we are thinking of workshop organ-
isation, there is a disposition to overlook a
very important consideration to which this
development has given rise, viz. the basic idea
that the energies of persons so handicapped
have successfully been rendered serviceable
to the community from very unpromising
material. All our so-called placement work
has only been made possible because of the
experience we have gained from the funda-
PAGE
148
mental principles which have been operated
by those associated with the management and
control of special workshops. It was neces-
sary to demonstrate that the blind could work
and these undertakings supplied a complete
answer to the unbelieving and the incredulous,
and that answer was furnished long before we
began to apply ourselves and the experiences
we had gained to other spheres of industrial
and commercial enterprise. Thus workshop
employment is not necessarily in conflict with
efforts to place blind operatives in other
spheres of labour ; the one is complementary
to the other. It is not a correct attitude to
infer, as sometimes appears to be the case,
that the workshop movement is somehow
opposed to other developments in industrial
welfare work. In point of fact, we are much
more indebted to the rise and growth of these
organisations than we are at all times prepared
to admit. It is perhaps worth remembering,
therefore, when we are disposed to contrast
conditions unfavourably, that there is after all
a real affinity between these various activities
and that the one is conditioned very largely
by the existence of the other.
It is our purpose in these articles to speak
of recent workshop developments, particu-
larly as they are concerned with economic
results and general wage payments : and for
our present purpose we have selected the
conditions existing at the Workshops for the
Blind, Hull, for special consideration.
The Hull and East Riding Institute for the
Blind, though not one of the oldest organis-
ations has always been regarded as one of the
most progressive corporations. It was
established in 1863 and has continued, from
its inception, to discharge many obligations
which were not ordinarily accepted by other
institutions, societies, and agencies for the
blind.
Within recent years, the management has
been in the hands of an exceedingly competent
number of business men who have given much
time and labour to the service of the organis-
ation with the result that its trading affairs
have . been placed on a very satisfactory
foundation.
Since July, 1930, the working week for men
has been 42-J- hours and that for women 37I ;
BEACON
this means a five day week, and it is satis-
actory to record the fact that the past year
mows that there has been practically no
diminution in the output. This more than
justifies the experiment : but it is interesting
llso to note that there has been a vast improve-
ment in the quality of the work executed.
This is due, the manager believes, to the
abolition of the piece work basis of employ-
ment. When one looks back on the attitude
issumed by workshop managers in this
:onnection, it is very illuminating to find that
the younger men who are now in control have
ost much of the veneration which was
formerly manifested towards this system.
Many of them are disposed to try out other
methods of remuneration with a view to
discovering a system of employment that will
De more equitable in its incidence and remove
some of the most glaring objections to a piece
ivork system. It will be necessary to deal
with some of these experiments during the
:ourse of these articles, but for the time being
it will be interesting to look rather more
:losely into the arrangements made by the
Hull authority.
During the years 1928/29 the wages paid to
blind employees amounted to the sum of
£3,489 ; 1929/30 the wage bill was £3,645 ;
and in 1930/31 the sum earned was £3,468.
It should be remembered that during the past
year there was a change in the policy of the
Management of the Institution and ten blind
married women ceased to be employed by the
organisation. In point of fact, therefore,
there has been a considerable increase under
the new system of wage payments in the
earnings of the blind worker and that is all to
the good and justifies the change in policy and
system which has been effected.
A prominent official commenting on the
present situation says : " There was a time
when we received numerous complaints
regarding the quality of some of our goods
but it is a very rare occurrence now to receive
a complaint. Our workers are far more
contented and a contented workman will
produce much better work than one who has
a grievance. There is not the slightest doubt
that the standard of workmanship has
improved considerably since the piece work
system was abolished."
Let us look for a moment at the new method
of remuneration in order to satisfy ourselves
that it does eliminate most of the objections to
a pure piece work system whilst retaining
those important elements which induce
workers to exercise initiative and capacity.
The system of wage payments is a graded one
and may be described as that of the " Variable
minimum," e.g. Grade I, provides a minimum
wage of £2 per week for men and £1 12s. for
women ; Grade II, secures £2 4s. for men
and £1 14s. for women ; Grade III, pays
£2 8s. for men and £1 16s. for women ;
Grade IV, yields £2 12s. for men and £1 18s.
for women. It is interesting also to observe
that at certified intervals a re-grading of the
workers will take place with a view to
improving their economic earnings so that
there is every incentive provided by such a
system to encourage good quality of workman-
ship and output.
Before leaving this subject it is useful to
observe the conditions made applicable to
apprentices ; they are paid on an hourly rate
of yd., and in addition, according to conduct
and progress, they receive grants from the
institution varying from 2s. 6d., to tos. per
week.
A general survey, therefore, of the labour
conditions existing at the Hull Institution
shows it to be one of the most progressive
organisations in the country and there is
every reason to believe that the policy
entered upon by the Board of Management a
year ago is likely to prove an unqualified
success.
National Council for Maternity and Child
Welfare.
The Report of the National Council for
Maternity and Child Welfare for 1930 gives
an interesting account of the widespread
activities of its thirteen constituent bodies,
each of which is striving to safeguard the
interests of mother and child. Two Societies
which have recently been affiliated to the
National Council are the Child Guidance
Council and the Save the Children Fund.
The Save the Children Fund forms a
specially valuable link with work in other
countries ; its aim " to raise the standards of
child-care throughout the world is a very
far-reaching one. The Child Guidance
Council specialises in the sane and sympa-
thetic treatment of the " difficult child " and
has been actively engaged in developing its
work during the year in London and the
provinces, with the result that several new
clinics have been opened.
PAGE
149
BEACON
EDWARD WATSON
The Blind Musicians' Friend.
By P. T. MAY HEW.
MR. Edward Watson, Secretary
of the Music Department
of the National Institute
for the Blind, suddenly
passed away in his sleep in
i the early morning of May
^27th. He was at business
the previous day, and appeared in the best
of health. All to whom he spoke that day will
remember his cheery words, and his most
familiar friends will recall that he had often
expressed a wish that he might be permitted
to work right on to the end.
He was buried at Battersea Cemetery,
Morden, Surrey, on Saturday, May 30th.
Besides the family, there were present
representatives of the National Institute for
the Blind : Mr. F. I. Stainsby, Assistant
Secretary- General ; Mr. H. Andrews, Works
Manager ; Mr. P. T. Mayhew, Superinten-
dent of Music Transcription.
First Braille Music Tutor.
Thirty years ago, in my student days, I can
recall the name of Edward Watson, sounding
as familiar in connection with Braille Music
then as it sounds to-day. Although I did not
then know it, his first Tutor on Braille Music,
entitled " Braille Musical Notation," had just
been published by the British and Foreign
Blind Association. Previously, the B.F.B.A.
had issued three Keys to Braille Music. The
first in 1 87 1 , of which little is now known ; the
second in 1889 (the findings of the Cologne
Conference, which had taken place the year
before) ; and the third in 1896, a Revised
Edition of the same. What was it then that
made the Tutor so outstanding ? The
Author had struck the happy idea of setting
out the Braille Music Symbols and Rules for
their use in a series of graduated lessons,
which appealed to the teacher and interested
the pupil.
Mr. Watson's enthusiasm carried him still
further, for in the following year, 1902, he
negotiated with Messrs. Novello and Co., for
the reproduction of his Work in letterpress,
with black-dot Braille Music Examples. The
cost of this publication he met entirely out
of his own pocket. His Tutor soon gained for
him wide-spread approval, and firmly estab-
lished his name in the World of the Blind.
Commercial or Musical Profession ?
Mr. Watson was born at Liverpool in the
year 1869. As a boy he had a strong inclin-
ation and ability for a musical career, but his
father wished him to enter the commercial
world, and such was his sense of duty, that he
actually remained in an accountants' office
until the age of one-and-twenty. At the end
of that time, he informed his father that his
mind was bent on music, and from then
onward he threw his whole heart and soul
into the music profession.
Character of the Man.
During the seven years in the office, he had
devoted all his spare time to music. Rising
early, he would study or practice the piano, or
dummy organ, and twice or three times a
week would have an hour's lesson before
arriving at business by nine o'clock. Closing
time at the office was seven, and this gave the
young music enthusiast three or four hours
for his beloved music. Throughout his whole
life, he seems to have had an over-abundance
of energy ; and, I believe, nobody can claim
to have ever seen him sitting still.
After giving up his business prospects, he
soon experienced the ups-and-downs of the
music profession. ' He was successful in
studying for his Associateship at the Royal
College of Organists, and later entered for his
Fellowship, but an accident to his foot on the
morning of the Examination, which laid him
up for some time, made it impossible for him
to perform on the pedals, although he actually
presented himself at the College for the
Examination.
Organ Appointments.
He successfully held three very good organ
appointments, at West Derby Parish Church,
at Plardman Street Church for the Blind,
which was connected with the School for the
Blind, where he was also Music master for
six years, and at Holy Trinity, Tulse Hill,
London. This last appointment he relin-
quished about eighteen months ago.
His Work for Blind Composers .
In 1922 he was appointed as Head of the
Music Department at the National Institute
for the Blind, having previously been working
part-time in collecting and editing the
National Institute's Edition of the Works of
PAGE
J5°
BEACON
British Blind Composers. Of this work he
was always most enthusiastic and proud. All
the composers of the edition owe him a deep
debt of gratitude for the real interest he
continually took on behalf of their composi-
tions. As one by one the pieces paid for
themselves, and the composers began to
receive royalties, he was delighted, and, I am
sure, far more excited than the composers
themselves.
His position at the Institute gave him many
opportunities of using his pen, with which he
was specially gifted, and the sketches of many
of our blind composers have been read with
much interest by the readers of this journal.
Second Braille Music Tutor.
The publication of the 1922 Revised Key
to Braille Music stirred him to further efforts,
and the next four years he was engaged in
bringing his Tutor into line with the Revised
Key. He followed the same plan in this, his
second Tutor, as he had done in his former
Manual, always bearing in mind the relation-
ship of pupil and teacher. This work also
was issued both in Braille and letterpress.
Teacher and Composer.
As a teacher of children, he showed much
originality. Many of his former pupils at the
Liverpool School for the Blind still remember
the simple tunes, composed by him, to which
they marched out of class, singing the
description of the Braille Music Symbols they
had learned during the lesson.
His Compositions.
He was a composer of no mean ability,
writing many delightful children's songs, such
as " Hot Cross Buns," " The Owl and the
Pussy-Cat, " and " I Love Little Pussy." A
number of pieces for the harmonium are
amongst his well-known compositions.
Particular reference must be made to two very
fine elaborate Anthems, " Lift up your Heads,
O ye Gates " (founded upon the Eighth
Gregorian Tone), and " Sing We Merrily unto
God our Strength," written by him about
twenty-two years ago. Both secured first
prizes, and the composer had the gratification
of having the former selected in 1910 by the
Liverpool Church Choir Association for
performance, with full orchestra, in St.
George's Hall, Liverpool. This was an
honour of which any composer might be
justly proud.
Delegate and Secretary to Paris Conference.
In 1929 I shared with him the great
privilege of representing Great Britain at the
Paris Conference. Here his skill with the pen
placed him, by the common consent of the
delegates, in the position of Secretary to the
Congress, a task which he ably performed.
During our fortnight's stay in Paris I
learned more of the man in that short time
than had before been possible. His kindness,
ever evident, had no limits. When not in
session at the Conference, he devoted the
whole of his time unreservedly to me, and
except for a few hours of one of the Sundays,
when I insisted upon him spending them with
his relations (who had come over from
Brussels to see him), he was always at my
side, anticipating my every wish. As a guide
and companion, he was all that could be
wished for, expressing his thoughts of anything
he saw of interest in a most unpretentious
way, which is very acceptable to a blind man.
His affection for his children, and the
devotion and admiration for his wife, I had
the privilege quietly to observe, by the proud
way in which he always spoke of them, in the
course of our many little chats together. They
have lost in him a loving husband and father.
Every blind musician throughout the
Empire will sympathise with them and will
ever have cause to remember, with gratitude,
the name of Edward Watson, and to be
thankful for the inspiration which prompted
him to master the intricacies of Braille Music
and to set them forth in his Tutor in so clear
and interesting a manner.
First Prize for Piano Playing.
Elsie Roberts, of Greenfield Terrace, Menai
Bridge, who is blind, won first prize for piano
playing (between the ages of 16 and 18), at
the Midland Musical Festival.
Choir of Fifty Blind Boys and Girls Broad-
cast from Bristol.
Bristol Royal School for the Blind, West-
bury-on-Trym, last month, broadcast from
the West Regional Station the first wireless
concert ever given by a blind choir.
A programme which included choruses,
part songs and " Hear my Prayer," by
Mendelssohn, was given by a choir of 50 boys
and girls, aged from 10 to 20, nearly all of
whom were totally blind. They had been
trained by Mr. A. H. James, the director of
music at the school. A blind girl, Phyllis
Townsend, played an organ solo, and another
organ solo was given by May Clark, a 15-years-
old pupil.
PAGE
BEACON
THE Annual Meeting of the
North Western Counties
UNION OF COUNTIES ASSOCIATIONS
FOR THE BLIND.
North Western Counties Association for the Blind.
was being given to the blind in other countries
and to quote what was being done elsewhere
as an argument in favour of their own case.
By the use of Esperanto much time was
saved by eliminating the language difficulty,
and particulars of any new apparatus could be
obtained, no matter in what country it was
first invented. Esperanto for the Blind
removed the restriction which existed for
people depending solely on their native
language ; it enabled the blind to know and
understand other peoples in the world and
could be applied for the advancement of
culture. Esperanto was not only a language,
it was a brotherhood based on language, its
main principle being " understanding one
another."
Mr. C. F. Holt, the local representative at
Liverpool of the National Ophthalmic Treat-
ment Board, gave an address arranged for the
benefit of areas which it is hoped will follow
Chester's lead in the matter of services under
the Board.
Mr. Holt began by giving a short history of
the method of grinding and making glasses
and spoke of the growth of the work of the
sight-testing opticians who, on the whole, had
been extraordinarily conscientious and reli-
able, but by the very nature of their training
could not go far enough. He did not wish to
say anything derogatory because until the end
of the war the sight-testing optician was doing
work which he only could do, but after the
war some people began to realise that there
was money to be made in this kind of work
and there sprang up, especially in big towns,
people who called themselves opticians who
attracted the public with their advertisements
for cheap glasses and sight-testing. The
really good sight-testing opticians then began
to agitate for State recognition. In 1922 a
Departmental Committee on the causes and
prevention of blindness stated emphatically in
their report that they considered that the
examination of eyes should be carried out by
qualified medical men and should not be done
by sight-testing opticians without medical
knowledge. The sight-testing optician was
a good and very useful member of society,
but he should not go outside that sphere and
touch medicine. Apart from refraction of the
was held in the Cathedral
Parlour, Chester (by kind
permission of the Dean) on
the 29th April, 1931. The
Chairman (Mr. William Bateman, J.P., Stock-
port) presided over an audience numbering
about 45, including the Vice- Chairman (Mr.
Arthur Davies), the Hon. Treasurer (Mrs.
Charles Macfie), Councillors E. Ashton,
J. W. Marriott, J. C. Dalton, and Mrs.
Penfold (Chester City Council), Alderman
Charlesworth (Wallasey), Miss Cracknall
(Union of Counties Associations for the
Blind), Members of the Committee, Home
Teachers from the area and others interested
in the work of the Association.
The Secretary and Hon. Treasurer pre-
sented the Annual Report and Balance Sheet,
both of which were approved and adopted.
The Officers and Committee were appointed
for the ensuing year and also representatives
on the Executive Committee of the Union of
Counties Associations for the Blind, the
Executive Committee of the National Institute
for the Blind, and Delegates to attend the
Meetings of the Union of Counties Associations.
After the business of the Meeting was
concluded a Conference was held at which
two interesting subjects were dealt with : —
" Esperanto for the Blind " and " The
National Ophthalmic Treatment Board."
The principal speakers were the Rev. W. J.
Carter, M.A. of Nantwich and Mr. C. F.
Holt of Liverpool, respectively.
The Rev. W. J. Carter, who has been blind
from birth, gave a very interesting address on
Esperanto for the Blind. He said that he
began the study of Esperanto for fun when he
was a boy. Pie referred to the International
Congress between blind Esperantists at
Oxford, which he attended and at which a
wide range of subjects was discussed such as
legislation, business, the supply of materials,
the use of dogs as guides, etc.
Through the knowledge of Esperanto the
blind would be able, before approaching their
own Government and asking for special
treatment, to find out what special treatment
PAGE
152
BEACON
eye, there was often disease which needed
treatment by an oculist and as an instance Mr.
Holt said that out of 2,000 cases at the
London Optical College, 63 per cent, were
suffering from refraction and also needed
treatment by an oculist.
With reference to the National Ophthalmic
Treatment Board he said that after evidence
had been given by the British Medical
Association to a Committee investigating the
whole subject, it became increasingly evident
to the medical profession that something
should be done. The medical profession was
the keeper of the national health and it was
not right that it should merely look after the
health of the wealthy people and neglect the
health of those who could not afford to pay
the necessary fees. Up to that time, unless
the sight-testing optician had attended to the
eyes of the people there was no one else to do
so. Now an agreement has been reached
under which, by a panel system, the medical
profession had agreed to make a considerable
concession in fees for examination and
treatment of state-insured persons and all
those whose income did not exceed £2^0.
Following Mr. Holt's address there was
some discussion on the National Ophthalmic
Treatment Board and Mr. Holt promised
greater services in North Wales in the
future. Dispensing opticians came into the
scheme and acted as a clearing house.
Miss L. O. Burges explained the working
of the Cheshire County Council's scheme for
people requiring treatment and glasses, and
both Mr. Carter and Mr. Holt received a
hearty vote of thanks.
South Eastern and London Counties
Association for the Blind.
A Sale of Pastime Work made by the
Unemployable Blind was held on May 19th
at Streatham, in aid of the Metropolitan
Society for the Blind. The Sale was opened
by Lady Rowley in the unavoidable absence of
Mrs. A. Douglas Robinson. The proceeds
amounted to approximately £40. Over 200
articles were sold and many orders taken.
The Society hopes to hold similar Sales in
other parts of the County of London.
East Sussex Association for the Blind.
The Annual Report of the Association tells
of an increase in work and of changes in staff
and in office premises and other arrange-
ments. Increased help has been given to the
blind by the East Sussex County Council. Its
relief both to blind persons and their depen-
dents is now given through the Association.
A special effort to raise funds is to be a
Sussex Fair at Hove on October 21st and
22nd. The Report embodies a report by the
Hove and Portslade Committee of the
Association, which relieves the Association of
much work in the most densely populated
part of the County. Copies can be obtained
from the Secretary at Old Bank House, High
Street, Lewes. (New address.)
Hampshire Association for the Care of the
Blind.
The Association publishes its Annual
Report in a new form this year. Part I
explains the origin and work of the Associa-
tion, and Part II reviews the work of the year.
The whole publication is a live record of the
Association's activities and is likely to stimu-
late interest and help among Hampshire
people for the Hampshire blind. Copies can
be obtained from the Secretary at 82, High
Street, Winchester.
Eastern Counties Association for the Blind.
The Annual Meeting will be held at the
County Hall, Cambridge, on Friday, June
19th, 1 93 1. Amongst the subjects for
discussion will be :
The Incomes of necessitous and unemploy-
able blind persons ; British Wireless for the
Blind Fund ; Memorandum from the
National Institute for the Blind ; The
Prevention of Blindness and a Home for
mentally retarded blind children.
We are informed by the Organising
Secretary of the Association that the Tudor
Pageant Play " To Kill the Queen," by
Lionel R. McColvin, will be presented by the
Ipswich Blind Society from June 17th to 20th,
at Upper Arboretum, Ipswich. Over 350
performers will take part, and the production
will be opened on June 17th by Sir John
Martin-Harvey.
Northern Counties Association for the Blind.
On Wednesday, June 3rd, 193 1 , the
Twenty-fifth Annual Meeting of the Northern
Counties Association for the Blind took place
at the Guildhall, Hull, under the Chairman-
ship of Mr. A. Siddall, of Rochdale. Alder-
man R. W. Wheeldon, Sheriff of Hull,
welcomed the delegates.
PAGE
153
BEACON
Arising out of the Minutes of the Twenty-
fourth Annual Meeting, Dr. E. H. Scholefield,
M.A., D.P.H., explained the present position
with regard to Wireless for the Blind. By
arrangement with the British Wireless for the
Blind Fund, the Manchester Station Wireless
for the Blind Fund was being re-constituted
as the North Regional Wireless for the Blind
Committee, an independent body of a regional
nature, which proposed to undertake instal-
lation and maintenance, in the six Northern
Counties, of the sets supplied by the British
Wireless for the Blind Fund. The Northern
Counties Association was invited to send three
representatives to this North Regional Com-
mittee, which, with the assistance of the
British Broadcasting Corporation, would
shortly appeal for funds on the North
Regional Wave-length.
The Annual Report for the year ended
March 31st, 1931, was adopted. Arising out
of the Report the appointment of representa-
tives to the Executive Council of the National
Institute for the Blind was considered.
Opposition was raised to the rule which
debarred paid officials and also to insistence on
the paramountcy of the voluntary system.
After a good deal of discussion it was decided
to appoint two representatives. The attention
of the delegates was called to the fact that the
new Advisory Committee would have
increased representation from the Association;
Councillor Asbury, Alderman Chambers,
Councillor Clydesdale, Dr. Graham, Mr.
Tate, and the Secretary, Mrs. Cowley, having
been appointed to serve on that Committee.
The total number of cases on the register
had again increased to a gross total of 18,956,
but there was now a slackening in the rate of
increase. The Secretary read a summary of
the statistics for the last four years which
showed that a total of 9,885 cases of blindness
had been discovered and registered. Allowing
for deaths, transfers, etc., there was a total net
increase of 4,628 during that period, probably
due to better ascertainment rather than to a
real increase in blindness. 423 cases had been
removed through decertification. There was
very little movement of cases from or into the
area of the six Northern Counties, only 190
cases having removed out of the area and 121
cases into the area in four years.
The result of the ballot for the election of
the new Executive Committee was declared
as follows : -
PAGE
154
Mr. A. Siddall, Rochdale Society for the Blind.
Captain F. H. Robinson, Barrow Society for the
Blind.
Mr. S. E. Stevens, Liverpool School for the Blind.
Mr. J. H. Mines, Liverpool School for the Blind.
Councillor J. W. Flanagan, Bradford County
Borough Council.
Mr. W. Whitehead, National Library for the
Blind, Northern Branch.
Miss A. M. Hewer, National Library for the
Blind, Northern Branch.
Dr. C. Franks, D.P.H., J. P., Durham County
Council.
Councillor J. A. Clydesdale, Newcastle-upon-
Tyne County Borough Council.
Miss I. M. Heywood, O.B.E., Manchester &
Salford Blind Aid Society.
Rev. C. F. Hardy, M.A., Yorkshire School for
the Blind.
Councillor G. Oliver, J. P., Newcastle-upon-
Tyne County Borough Council.
At a meeting of the new Executive Com-
mittee the following persons were co-opted, the
fifth place being left open for the time being : -
Alderman Kathleen Chambers, Bradford County
Borough Council.
Dr. E. H. Scholefield, M.A., D.P.H., Lancashire
County Council.
Mr. W. H. Tate, J. P., Bradford.
Councillor W. E. Yorke, Sheffield County
Borough Council.
Councillor Flanagan conveyed to the
Association an invitation from the Lord
Mayor of Bradford, Alderman A. Pickles, and
from the Bradford Corporation, to hold the
next Quarterly Meeting in that City.
The Sheriff of Hull presided at the After-
noon Meeting, when Mr. S. W. Starling,
Secretary and Superintendent of the Birming-
ham Royal Institution for the Blind, gave a
paper on " Workshops for the Blind in
England and America," and Dr. G. G. Wray,
Ch.B., D.P.H., Assistant Medical Officer of
Health, Lancashire County Council, spoke on
" A Suggested Classification of Blindness."
These papers will be printed in the Annual
Report, which will shortly be circulated.
Blind Actors in Three Plays,
A successful dramatic entertainment was
given last month, by male students of the
Royal Normal College for the Blind, Upper
Norwood. Three short plays were presented.
The plays were " Joan the Maid," by Hermon
Ould, " The Poetasters of Ispahan," by
Clifford Bax, and " Shivering Shocks," by
Clemence Dane.
An organ recital was given by J. Robinson,
A.R.C.O., and piano solos by Keith Burrows.
CMtDtu
BEACON
The Value of Guide Dogs for the Blind.
The following impression of Guide Dogs
for the Blind comes from a lady, who during
a visit to Berlin, came across the dogs by
accident, and is of interest as an unsolicited
testimonial as to the value of the dogs from
someone entirely unconnected with the blind
or with dogs.
" On a recent visit to Berlin I was im-
mensely impressed by the touching sagacity
and understanding of the Alsatian attendant
upon his blind master. Due to the war, the
large number of blinded soldiers are con-
spicuous everywhere. By the side of each,
patiently watching and alert, was his Alsatian
caretaker. Being an ardent dog lover, again
2nd again my observation was attracted by
their devoted attention, and to see the dog
guiding his afflicted master through the traffic
was to me a wonderful revelation of what a
dumb animal can do for the sightless human.
The dogs wear a special harness marked with
the Red Cross. I was told that they had all
been trained for this purpose — the protection
and help of the blind. To-day I learn that
this training for the " Seeing Eye " as it has
been called has now commenced in England
and a start has been made with four of the
Alsatian breed. It is a splendid idea which
deserves every possible support and assistance.
Having witnessed a demonstration bv Mrs.
Bond and her dog Eona, I feel sure it cannot
fail to succeed."
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND.
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MUSIC.
The prices of the following pieces of music are subject
to a reduction of three-quarters for the blind resident
in the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
The minimum price is (id. per copy.
ORGAN-
IC,789 Cooke, Benjamin. Introduction and
Fugue in C minor (edited bv John E.
West)
10,700 Frescobaldi. Prelude and Fugue in G
minor (arr. by Bossi)
10,791 Galuppi. Adagio and Allegro Spiritoso
(from a Clavier Sonata) (arr. by
Frederick Bridge)
Lemare. Gavotte Moderne
10,70:
PIANO-
10,793 Beethoven.
Op. 106
Sonata No. 29 in B flat,
0,794
10.795
10,796
10.797
10,798
DANCE
10,799
10,800
10,801
10,802
SONGS
10,803
]0,,N(I4
10,805
10,806
]H, MIS
10,809
10, ski
lo, Ml
DUET
10,812
Mungo-Park, M. A Posy of Pieces (21
Progressive Pieces for Beginners ...
Rimsky-Korsakov. The Flight of the
Bunible-Bee (arr. bv T. Strimer) ...
Sinding. Jov, Op. 127, No. 3
Whitehead, Percy (arr. by). Old Mast-
ers (12 Early English Pieces)
Whittaker, W. G. In the Style of a
Folk-Song
Lown, B. and Chauncey, G. You're
the one 1 care for, Song Fox-Trot...
Myers, S. Parade of the Minutes,
Characteristic Song Fox-Trot
Nicholls, H. In Old Vienna, Song Fox-
Trot
Simons, M. The Peanut Vendor (from
Charles B. Cochran's 1931 Revue),
Song Fox-Trot
Bach. Come, Sweetest Death, A
minor ; \ — E1
Bennett, T. C. Sterndale. Our Old
Village, D ; A,— D1
Elgar. In the Dawn, E flat; E— G1...
Gibbs, Armstrong. The Scarecrow,
B minor ; A, — Fl
Grace, Harvey. pioneers ! (Unison
Song) ... '
Gretry. The Prophet of Spring, D
minor, C sharp — F1 ...
Greville, Ursula. Goosey, Goosey Gan-
der, D flat ; F— A1
Rachmaninoff. To the Children, F ;
E— F1
Tschaikowskv. To the Forest, F ;
C— F1 ..."
VVingrove, C. That's L's ! (Tenor and
2 0
2 0
BRAILLE BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per vol.
s. d.
10,293-10,299 Barchester Towers, by Anthony
Trollope. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed. Paper Covers, 7 vols. F 440 6 3
10,364-10,365 Camp of the Otters, The, by
Mark Harborough. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers, 2
vols. F. 122 6 0
10,111 Children Far Away, by Ernest Young,
B.Sc. Grade 1, Intermediate size,
Interlined, Paper Covers. F. 56 ... 5 9
10,414-10, 41S Children's Hour, The, arranged
by Arthur Mee. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 5 vols.
F. 254 5 3
10,377-1 0,37s Countries of the Mind, by J.
Middleton Murry. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers, 2
vols. F. 125 6 3
10,291-10,292 Drake (from " Selected Poems")
by Alfred Noyes. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 2 vols.
F 96 5 0
10,222-10,224 Eminent Victorians, by Lytton
Strachev. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed! Cloth Boards, 3 vols. G. 231 9 3
10,170 Golden Budget of Nursery Rhymes,
The, Grade 1, Intermediate size,
Interlined, Paper Covers. F. 46 ... 4 9
PAGE
ESS
BEACON
per vol.
10,110 Homes Far Away, by Ernest Young, s. d.
B.Sc. drade 2, Intermediate size.
Interlined, Paper Covers. F. 48 ... 5 0
10,116-10,121 Iron Woman, The, by Margaret
Deland. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers. 6 vols. F. 346 5 9
10,202-10,211 It is never too late to mend, by
Charles Reade, D.C.L. Grade 2,
Large size, Interpointed, Paper
Covers, 10 vols. F. 580 6 0
10,285-10,288 Joseph and his Brethren, by H.
W. Freeman. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed. Cloth Boards, 4 vols.
G 27ii 8 6
10,172 Perfect Zoo. The, by Eleanor Farjeon.
Grade 1, Intermediate size. Inter-
lined, Paper Covers. F. 50... ... 5 0
10,212-10,215 Red Rust, by Cornelia Cannon
Grade 2, Large size. Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 4 vols. F. 219 ... 5 6
10,158-10,161 Richard Yea and Nay. by
Maurice Hewlett. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers, 4
vols. F. 234 5 9
10,272-10,273 Sea Whispers, by W. W. Jacobs.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 2 vols. F. 104 ... 5 3
10,366-10,367 Seven Little Australians.''' by
Ethel Turner. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers. 2 vols
F. 104 5 3
10,225-10,228 Silhouettes, by Edmund Gosse.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed.
Paper Covers, 4 vols. F. 219 ... 5 6
10,274 Tir Y. Dyneddon, by E. Tegla Da vies
Grade 1, Large size. Interpointed
Cloth Boards G 71 8 9
10,237-10,240 Trilby, by George du Mauner.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 4 vols. F. 244 ... 6 0
10,229 Why I believe in Personal Immortality,
by Sir Oliver Lodge. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed. Cloth Boards
G. 92 9 9
10,289-10,290 Wild Animals I Have Known,
by Ernest Thompson Seton. Grade
2, Large size, Interpointed, Paper
Covers, 2 vols. F. 118 6 0
MOON BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire
per vol.
3,066-3,077 Fairy Gold, by Compton Mac-" s. d.
kenzie, 12 vols. (Limited Edition)... 12 0
3,036-3,037 Things to Live For, by J. R.
Miller. Vols. 2 and 3 (Devotional
Periodical) (British Readers 2s. 3d.) 3 6
NATIONAL INSTITUTE STUDENTS' LIBRARY.
ADDITIONS.
CLASSICS. Vols.
Marchant, A. C. More Unprepared Latin ... 2
Plato. Pha;do 2
ECONOMICS.
Bowley, A. L. Some Economic Consequences
of the Great War ... ... ... ... 2
EDUCATION.
Robertson, J. Grant. Modern Universities ... 1
Steiner, Rudolf. Three Educational Lectures... I
LAW.
Gibson and Weldon. Probate and Divorce
(1927 Ed.) 7
LITERATURE.
Shears, F. S. Froissart, Chronicler and Poet ... 3
MODERN LANGUAGES. Vols.
A venal, G. D. Frangais de mon Temps... ... 5
Corneille. Horace ... ... ... ... 1
POETRY AND DRAMA.
Chaucer. Prologue and Nun's Priest's Tale (Ed.
bv A. J. Wyatt) 3
Shaw, G. B. The Apple Cart 2
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE.
Marriott. J. A R. Empire Settlement 2
PSYCHOLOGY.
McDougall, W. Modern Materialism ... ... 4
THEOLOGY AND RELIGIONS.
Campbell, J. R. Life of Christ 1
The Lambeth Conference of 1930 ... ... 3
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND.
ADDITIONS MAY, 1931.
FICTION. Vols.
" Barrington, E." The Laughing Queen ... 5
Broster, D. K. The Dark Mile ... ~ ... ... 5
Broster. D. K. and G. W. Taylor. Vision
Splendid ... ... ... ... .... ... 7
Christie, Agatha. Secret Adversarv ... ... 4
Cullum, R. Riddle of Three-Way Creek ... 5
Eden, Hon. E. Semi-Detached House ... 3
Jepson, E. Peter Intervenes ... ... ... 3'
*Lever, C. Harry Lorrequer ... ... ... 7
Lund, T. Weston of the Royal North-West
Mounted Police ... ... ... ... ... 4
*Masterman, W. S 2LO 3
Van Dine, S. S. Scarab Murder Case ... ... 4
MISCELLANEOUS.
*Berridge House Recipe Book Published by the
National Society's Depository, Great Peter
Street, Westminster ... ... ... ... 2
Christian Doctrine of God ... ... ... 1
*Davies, W. H. Autobiography of a Super-
Tramp ... ... ... ... ... ... 3
f Elliott, Rev. W. H. Plain Man Looks at Life... 1
f Green, Rev. Peter. Our Heavenly Father ... 2
Hare, K. Our Cockney Ancesters ... ... 4
Hearnshaw. F. J. C. '' Ifs " of History... ... 2
Hodson, G. Angelic Hosts ... ... ... 1
Jinarajadasa, C. Gods in Chains ... ... 4
Keller, Helen. Midstream ... ... ... 4
Malcolm, Sir Ian. Lord Balfour ... ... 1
Tomlinson, H. M. Gifts of Fortune with some
Hints for those about to Travel ... ... 3
JUVENILE.
MacDonald, George. The Light Princess, and
Other Fairy Stories ... ... ... ... 2
Twenty-Six Adventure Stories from the " Boy's
Own Paper " ... ... ... 4
GRADE I.
Dawson, C When Father Christmas was Late 3
GRADE 1.
Lagerlof. Selma (Trans. S. Howard). Maarbacka 3
MOON.
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre ... ... ... 12
* Produced by the National Institute for the Blind.
f Presented by the Guild of Church Braillists.
ADVERT1SMNTS
Fully qualified HOME TEACHER, with varied
experience at home and abroad, requires post in Sep-
tember. Excellent testimonials. Write E. H.. c/o
Editor, The New Beacon
WANTED- SIGHTED LADY HOME TEACHER.
State age, experience and salary required. Applications
to be sent to the Secretary, Institute for the Blind,
Roundhay'Road, Leeds.
Printed by Smiths' Printing Company (London & St. Albans), Lid., 22-24, Fetter Lane, London, E.C.f.
cDficZNcw
(/Ljla^L
fs-r*
uc
BEACON
A MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF THE BLIND
Vol. XV.-No. 175.
Entered as Second Class Matter, March
JULY 15th, 1 93 1.
Price 3d.
3S. PER ANNUM, POST FREI.
Jice at Boston, Mass., under the Act of March 3, 1879 (Sec. 397, P.L. and R.)
PUBLIC SPEAKING FOR THE BLIND.
By SIDNEY F. WICKS.
Author of "Public Speaking for Business Men."
FOR blind people the Art of Public Speaking provides a means of creating self-
confidence and that sense of power which gives the nobler sort of pride.
The temptation to fall into excessive introspection, which so strongly afflicts
the blind, is overcome by this means of giving outward expression to the inner
thought. And thoughts which seem reasonable until they are expressed in
logical form, are submitted to a healthy discipline.
Incidentally the cause of the blind can best be advocated by the blind.
From some points of view the blind have advantages in learning Public Speaking. They
have little temptation to rely upon the written manuscript which is such a bane to most
people. They are also accustomed to rely upon their own thoughts rather than on external aids.
The disadvantage, on the other hand, is that they are not so well able to establish that
magnetic attraction between audience and speaker which comes from the meeting of eye with
eye. In my book I have called this " ocular rapport." And yet it may be that that wonderful
sensitiveness to people around them, so noticeable in the blind, may help blind people to sense
the feeling of the audience in ways the ordinary speaker knows nothing about.
The following are practical suggestions :
(1) Use of the Voice.
The ordinary speaker judges the pitch of his voice by the size of the hall and the effect
upon people in the back row. Both to speak too low and too loud are irritating faults. The
blind speaker should be trained to use the right pitch of voice according to information
elicited from the organisers of the Meeting.
(2) Gestures.
Ordinary speakers use gestures which are directed towards people whom they can see.
For this reason blind people should be sparing of gesture relying rather upon the expressiveness
of the voice. Thus a great actor can deliver a powerful speech from Shakespeare without
moving his body and yet give the audience a wonderful impression of force and movement.
(3) Notes.
It would be better for blind people not to use notes at all. For even if they use only
a lew notes yet the unusual movement of their fingers might distract the attention of the
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audience. This means that they must
simplify the " architecture " of their speech,
dividing into definite sections with easily
remembered headings. The section on The
Architecture of Speech and the Preparation of
a Speech needs study in this connection.
Thus, supposing a speech has to be made on
the subject of teaching craftsmanship to the
blind, the following headings could be
memorised :
First Notes.
(i) Psychological.
The blind are not in the dark — they work
by another kind of light. When they are
taught appropriate methods they give evidence
of a new kind of ability.
(2) Historical.
The change from the attitude of abandoning
the blind to charity to the training of the blind
for citizenship.
(3) Social.
It is proved that God has given compensa-
tions to the blind — how cruel it is to ignore
this and to add the burden of dependence
upon charity to that of loss of sight.
(4) Economic.
By training the blind the community gain
in three ways (a) by saving money spent upon
charity ; (b) by creating producers of wealth ;
(c) by creating useful citizens.
Second Notes.
Introduction. Blindness another kind of light.
Past. Charity versus citizenship.
Present. Cruel to add loss of rights to
loss of sight.
Future. (1) Save Charity.
(2) Create wealth.
(3) Create citizens.
This is only given as an illustration.
Obviously it is inadequate. But it shows the
advantage of having very simple divisions.
These can be easily memorised. The
rhyming method is also useful — Thus :
(1) The inner Light.
(2) The Charity blight.
(3) Right and sight.
(4) From weakness to might.
There is a humorous story of a negro
preacher who gave the following heads to a
sermon on the Prodigal Son. Dogs — Hogs —
Togs. It was certainly effective.
On all other points the blind speaker may
follow the teaching of my book.
Finally, I record my sense of gratitude that
any written words of mine should prove
useful to the multitude of those who are
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158
utterly thrown back upon the illumination of
the Inner Light, and I trust that the mastery
of the Art of Public Speaking will give to the
blind an increased sense of mastery over
adverse circumstance and indeed transmute a
seeming disability into a power for good.
REVISED BRAILLE RULES.
The National Uniform Type Committee
has approved the new edition of " The Braille
System for Reading and Writing " which can
now be obtained from the National Institute
for the Blind. It includes the rules for
Grade I and Grade II, formerly published
separately, and the inkprint edition is priced
at 3d. net. A Braille edition is in prepara-
tion, while revised editions of the other
Braille instructional books issued by the
Institute will be published in due course.
In the new edition the wording has been
slightly altered and some of the rules amplified
with the object of greater clarity.
Changes have been made in two rules —
Grade I, Rule 5 ; Grade II, Rule 9.
Grade /, Rule 5.
In accordance with the strongly expressed
preference of finger-readers, it has been
decided that the double poetry-line sign is not
to be used between verses, but each verse is to
begin in cell 3 of a new line. The single
poetry-line sign is to be used after the last
line of a verse because it indicates that
another line of poetry follows ; but for the
same reason it may never be used at the end
of a poem or quoted passage.
The double poetry-line sign will in future
only be used when peotry occurs between
passages of prose. The poetry is introduced
by a double poetry-line sign followed by one
space so that the reader may have a clear
indication of the change from prose to verse.
Inverted commas are to be used in Braille if
used in print.
Grade II, Rule 9.
The words " /o," " into " and " by "
should be contracted before the numeral,
capital and letter signs, but not before any
other Braille composition or punctuation sign.
These alterations must, of course, take a
little time to come into general use, but all
Braille transcribers will be asked to follow the
new rules in any transcription they may in
future undertake.
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HOME NEWS
Blind Woman's Last Gift to Science.
Miss Florence Buchanan, D.Sc, whose death was reported in The New Beacon
two months ago, has, in her will, directed that her eyes should be removed as soon as
possible after death and preserved with a view to their examination. She left £250 for
this examination and publication of its results and she also left her own account of the
state of her eyes compiled from observations since 1922.
Dr. W. T. Collier, of Oxford, has stated that her wish has been carried out. The
work is being undertaken, but it will not be completed for two or three years.
Inspection of Massage School by the Minister of Pensions.
On the nth June, the Right Hon. F. O. Roberts, Minister of Pensions, paid a visit
to the Massage School of the National Institute for the Blind. He was received by
Dr. P. M. Evans, Vice-Chairman of the National Institute, Canon Bolam, Mr. A. J. W.
Kitchin, Mr. H. M. Whitfield, B.A., Chairman of the Association of Certificated
Blind Masseurs, and Mr. W. McG. Eagar, Secretary-General, National Institute.
Practical demonstrations in Massage and Medical Electricity were arranged ; lectures
were also taking place in Anatomy and Medical Electricity.
The Home Secretary at Henshaw's Institution for the Blind.
Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Clynes paid a visit last month to Henshaw's Institution for the
Blind and were presented by Councillor J. Mathewson Watson, the chairman, with a
cane chair and a woollen pullover made in the institution's workshops.
" Mr. and Mrs. Clynes," says the Manchester Guardian, "like others who have
inspected the institution before them, were amazed at the thorough system of training
established there and at the exquisite craftsmanship it results in. It would appear
almost incredible that a totally blind man, required by the sense of touch alone to bind
into neat little bundles the bristles of a brush, dip the ends into a cauldron of boiling tar,
and finally fix them into the brush's head should turn out as good and finished an article
as anyone could require. Yet brush-making is only one of the less intricate processes
that are taught at Henshaw's."
College of Teachers Annual Meeting.
The annual meeting of the College of Teachers of the Blind was held on Saturday,
June 13th, at the National Institute for the Blind. The Chair during the earlier part of
the meeting was taken by Miss Falconer, the retiring Chairman, who read the Annual
Report for 1930/31, and was later succeeded in the Chair by the new Chairman, Dr.
Ritchie. Dr. Ritchie paid a warm tribute to the work done by Miss Falconer during
her year of office, and to her untiring interest in the welfare of the blind.
Dr. Ritchie in his address from the Chair spoke of the inquiry into the education
of the blind that had recently been set on foot by the College of Teachers in co-operation
with the National Institute for the Blind, and characterised it as an experiment full of
interest and importance to all educationists.
At Dr. Ritchie's invitation, an address was then given by Mr. Rau, of the School
for the Deaf and Blind, Mysore, who aroused the interest and sympathy of his audience
in the great problem of the welfare of the blind in India, and specially stressed the
importance of prevention and education.
It had been hoped that members of the College who had taken part in the Inter-
national Conference at New York would have been present at the meeting, and would
be able to relate their experiences, but unfortunately Miss Garaway, who had hoped to
attend, was ill ; she had, however, kindly prepared a paper on the subject which was
read to the meeting. Fortunately Mr. Brown, Headmaster of Worcester College, was
able to be present, and he gave a stimulating and lively account of his experiences which
greatly interested those who heard it.
page
'59
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Blind Men's Interest in the Football Cup.
Eighteen blind men from the Birmingham Royal Institute for the Blind participated
in a unique ceremony at West Bromwich Town Hall recently when they handled the
F.A. Cup won by West Bromwich Albion in April. The ceremony, which was private,
was arranged by the Mayor of West Bromwich in response to a request from two blind
supporters of the Albion.
Annual Conference of Scottish National Federation for the Blind.
A civic welcome was extended last month by Lord Provost Johnston and the Magis-
trates of Dundee to the delegates attending the annual conference of the Scottish National
Federation for the Welfare of the Blind.
In welcoming the delegates, the Lord Provost said that they were glad to know that
there were compensations to blind persons. It was an accepted fact that the mind's
eye of a blind person was highly developed. He wished to acknowledge the high sense
of citizenship displayed by many members of the Federation in Dundee. He knew
that they took an interest in public affairs, both local and national, and that they did
their share for the common weal.
Mr. James Balfour, Aberdeen, the president, said, in reply, that the Federation was
a strictly Scottish body. He thought the facilities which were now available for blind
people in this country were in advance of any legislation in any country in the world.
In this respect he thought they were in advance of their English friends even. There
were roughly 9,000 blind people in Scotland, of whom approximately two-thirds were
over 50 years of age. He hoped the municipal administrators would seriously consider
doing something for the people who were untrainable and over 50.
Mr. T. N. Bell, president of the Royal Dundee Institution for the Blind, and Sir
Wm. Henderson, C.B., president of the Dundee and Lochee Mission to the Outdoor
Blind, associated themselves with the Lord Provost's welcome.
Annual Speech Day at Worcester College.
Viscount Cobham presided at the Annual Speech Day at Worcester College for
the Blind last month. He spoke of the financial difficulties of the year and said that
the school was not facing a problem so grave as those confronting some of the great
midland hospitals over whose meetings he had to preside. The Governors thought
they would not make their budget balance at the end of the financial year, but the deficit
would be only a small one. The Governors were steadily making progress in building
up an endowment fund.
Mr. G. C. Brown, Headmaster, said that sooner or later the College was finding
jobs for its boys, but it was a hand-to-mouth sort of business, and there was no real
machinery for placing boys in careers. Eight boys left the College last year, and one
went straight into a commercial occupation. Originally the College was a purely philan-
thropic effort, but the experiment had proved entirely successful. There was room
for the blind in the world of commerce. Every boy was not suited to one of the polite
professions ; some of them wanted to make money, and there was no reason why they
should not have a chance to do so. One boy took up farming, as he had considerable
means, and so was able to bear the expense of earning his living that way. Three boys
were doing well as masseurs.
Canon A. J. Carlyle, of Worcester Cathedral, gave away the prizes. Speaking of the
blind boys from the school whom he had met at the University, he said he noticed in
them a singular desire to learn what there was to be learnt. " By some curious streak
of genius," he added, " you make your boys like other people, and I think nothing
impressed us more at Oxford than this quality of your school. You give your boys the
feeling that what other men can do, they can do ; what other men's lives mean, their
lives mean ; whatever an honest and capable man can set about doing, they can set
about doing."
PAGE
160
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Blind Hermit Leaves £100,000 to Charity.
Mr. Morris Lyon, the blind silversmith hermit of Holborn, who for the last six
years lived above his shuttered and closed shop, attended by two faithful old servants,
has left £100,000, most of which is ultimately destined for charitable purposes. A large
portion of his fortune is to be devoted to the building and maintenance of a convalescent
home to be known as the Morris and Samuel Lyon Home, and to be situated within
a radius of 30 miles from the Mansion House. Thousands of pounds have been
bequeathed to various hospitals for immediate use.
Extension of Edinburgh Royal Blind Asylum Opened.
A new administrative building, which will provide extended facilities for the training
of the blind at the Royal Blind Asylum and School in Gillespie Crescent, Edinburgh,
was opened last month, by the Countess of Haddington. The new block was erected
at a cost of £4,500, and contains a show-room and offices.
Lady Haddington made a strong plea on behalf of the blind, and Lord Provost
Sir Thomas B. Whitson, who presided, expressed the hope that more orders for goods
would be placed so that more blind people could be engaged in the work.
The Rev. Dr. Thomas Burns, chairman of directors of the Asylum, said that the
number of blind persons training had increased from twenty-nine in 1926 to ninety at
the present time.
Professor James MacKinnon, on behalf of the institute, presented Lady Haddington
with an eiderdown quilt, a sample of the institute's work and Harriet, Lady Findlay,
handed to her a beautiful silver rose bowl, the gift of the builders.
Sir Landon Ronald's Appeal for Edward Watson Memorial.
Sir Landon Ronald, Principal of the Guildhall School of Music, has addressed a
letter to the Press, asking for subscriptions towards a Memorial to the late Edward Watson,
Secretary of the Music Department of the National Institute, whose death was reported
last month. The Memorial is to take the form of a Showcase, to be established in the
Institute's Museum of Blindiana, and to contain pieces of musical apparatus for the blind.
In his letter, Sir Landon Ronald says : " Mr. Watson was by nature so modest and
unassuming that only those who were intimately connected with him in his work can
estimate the true value and extent of his achievement. He, more than any other man,
brought into clouded lives the light that music so surely gives, and to blind musicians
and music students he was an irreplaceable and devoted friend and servant. The results
of his labours form in themselves an endurable record of a life of pure, unselfish service."
Subscriptions of 2s. 6d., 5s., or more, should be sent to the Sec. General, National
Institute for the Blind, 224, Great Portland Street, W.i, and marked " Edward Watson
Memorial Fund."
The Duchess of York Presents Prizes to Swiss Cottage Pupils.
The Duchess of York distributed the prizes at Guildhall last month, to the pupils
of the School for the Blind, Swiss Cottage. The Lord Mayor attended in state, accom-
panied by the Sheriffs.
The Lord Mayor said the society was founded 93 years ago, and although its head-
quarters had for nearly 90 years been in Hampstead its connexion with the City had
been close. In 1918 the number of blind persons for whom it cared was 80, and to-day
it was 607.
Dr. J. M. Ritchie (the Principal) said the work of the society was made up of three
sections — elementary education, professional or industrial training, and employment.
Good progress had been made during the year, but their financial position was urgent.
If their work was not to come to an end at the expiration of their lease they must have
the wholehearted support of the charitable public.
The Duchess of Y'ork, after giving the prizes, shook hands with each blind boy and
girl, and offered them words of encouragement. Seniors and juniors smiled with delight,
and two of their number presented bouquets of flowers to the Duchess and also to the
Lady Mayoress.
PAGE
l6l
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THE MUSEUM OF BLINDIANA.
Official Opening— Description of Exhibits.
CN Wednesday, June 24th, at
^ 12 noon, the Rt. Hon. Lord
\ Blanesburgh, P.C., C.B.E.,
II officially opened the
jgjr Museum of Blindiana in
f the Armitage Hall of the
National Institute for the
Blind, 224, Great Portland Street, W.
Sir Beachcroft Towse, V.C., Chairman of
the National Institute, welcomed Lord
Blanesburgh who, he said, required no
introduction as he was well-known throughout
the Blind World.
Mr. Henry J. Wagg, Chairman of the
Museum Committee, stated that the Museum
was the first of its kind in this country. As an
engineer, he had noticed that inventing was
often easier than convincing others that your
invention was something better than they had
already got, and there was little doubt that
many inventions were lost through sheer want
of persistence on the part of the inventor or
lack of opportunity to get his invention
adopted. " An inventor," added Mr. Wagg,
" needed the patience of Job, the persuasive
power of a K.C., and the perseverance of a
steam roller."
" Louis Braille, a blind man," continued
Mr. Wagg, " invented his well-known system
of reading and writing in 1829, but it was left
to another blind man, Thomas Rhodes
Armitage, the founder of the National
Institute, to persuade the teachers of the
blind throughout this country that the Braille
system surpassed any other system. WTell
over fifty years was wasted before Braille
became the recognised system in Great
Britain, and in most other civilised countries.
" Notable British inventors in the past were
Nicholas Saunderson, the well-known blind
professor at Cambridge University, who
invented the arithmetic board ; G. A. Hughes,
of Manchester, the inventor of the earliest
typewriter that was designed for the blind to
communicate with the seeing ; and Henry
Stainsby, for many years Secretary-General
of the National Institute, joint inventor of the
Stainsby- Wayne Writer and Stainsby- Wayne
Shorthand Machine, etc."
Mr. Wagg pointed out that the chief use of
the Museum was not for sight-seeing, but to
enable would-be inventors to see what had
been done in the past and not go over the
PAGE
162
same ground again. A well-known saying
amongst engineers was " Success is built up
on the scrap heap." In the cases would be
seen " scrap heaps " on which past successes
had been built and on which he hoped future
successes would be built.
Mr. WTagg concluded by expressing a debt
of gratitude to Heads of Institutions for the
Blind in many parts of the world for gifts or
the loan of apparatus ; to the Institute's
Secretary- General, Mr. W. McG. Eagar, for
instigating the Museum and Exhibition ; and
to Mr. Edward Pyke, the Institute's Chief
Technical Officer, for all the trouble that he
had taken in making the necessary arrange-
ments.
Lord Blanesburgh said that he regarded it
as a very high privilege and a very great
honour to be permitted to take any part in the
opening of the Museum. As a member of the
governing body of a sister Institution — the
National Library for the Blind — and as
having been associated for a year or two now
with the Advisory Committee appointed by
the Minister of Health to consider matters
with reference to the welfare of the blind, it
had been his great privilege to become
interested in a great work. One could not be
associated with it without being struck by the
amazing cheerfulness of the blind, and by the
aptitude with which they are able to utilise all
that cruld be done for their benefit. Some-
times this wonderful cheerfulness made him
feel that in their darkened world they had
access to a source of happiness of which
sighted people are quite unconscious ; and he
hoped that in that way they found some
compensation for their affliction. He trusted
that the Museum would be an incentive to the
imagination lacking in so many of us, and
believed that in the years to come it would
provide an opportunity to assist the blind
more and more. In this belief he declared
the Museum open.
Dr. Ernest Whitfield, in proposing a vote of
thanks to Lord Blanesburgh, said that he was
there not only on behalf of the National
Institute, but also as a spokesman of that
larger body which stood behind the Institute,
and for which it existed. The blind of this
country as a corporate body seldom had the
opportunity of expressing their appreciation
to those who so generously gave of their best
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for their benefit. Every recognition was due
to those numerous men and women who so
generously set aside part of their incomes in
the interests of the blind, but in his opinion,
of even'greater importance, was the giving of
personal 'service for their welfare. Lord
Blanesburgh had given his time and devoted
his vast experience and his keen intellect to
the working out of the many complicated
problems which beset the blind, and he took
that opportunity of expressing the thanks of
the world of the blind to Lord Blanesburgh
on that account.
Dr. P. M. Evans, Vice-Chairman of the
Institute, seconded the vote of thanks.
A speech by Captain Ian Fraser, C.B.E.,
who was unable to be present, was " broad-
cast " by means of a new invention, the
Blattnerphone. The delivery of this speech,
recorded on wire, was heard with great
interest. Later, Canon C. E. Bolam spoke
into the machine and his speech was broad-
cast a few minutes afterwards. The Blattner-
phone seems to offer great possibilities for
" sound " books and the inventor, Mr.
L. Blattner, who was present, announced
that he was presenting a machine to the
blind.
The Armitage Hall was crowded at the
opening of the Museum, and many people
visited the Museum during the following
week.
All the exhibits should
be of practical value to in-
ventors, and many of them
possess considerable histor-
ical interest. They are well
arranged in sections, so
that an investigator can
trace almost at a glance
the development of the
highly finished models of
to-day from the cruder
models of the past. The
early models perhaps stim-
ulate the imagination most,
for in the elementary rough
work we can see the hands'
first unskilful efforts to in-
terpret the ideas in the
mind of the inventor.
Behind the uneven rows
of raised dots on sheets of
dingy paper pasted together
lies the thought from which
millions of Braille books, each executed with
mechanical precision, have sprung.
The appliances for writing Braille with a
style by hand include all shapes and sizes of
boards for transcribing books, writing corres-
pondence, postcards, and " pocket " notes.
There are many frames for writing ordinary
script, one with shaped openings to guide the
pencil ; one with springs allowing for loops ;
another on the Venetian blind principle.
There is a good show of Braille Writing and
Shorthand Writing Machines — these machines
succeeding the style as the typewriter has
succeeded the pen. Various models of the
Stainsby- Wayne writers are on view, but the
latest " upward " writing model has not yet
been completed. Several " upward " writers
are shown, however, notably the Hall, from
America, the Constancon, of Swiss make —
both somewhat similar to ordinary type-
writers in appearance ; the Picht, from
Germany, the model shown having been
specially designed for a man with only one
arm ; and the Jauny, invented in France only
last year.
An exhibit of great historical interest is the
Hughes Typograph of 1851. This is the
second oldest typewriting model in existence,
the first being in America. The keyboard is
embossed, and later the machine developed
into the typewriter of to-day. How many
The Museum of Blindiana in the Armitage Hall, National Institute.
PAGE
163
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millions of typing fingers must ache to tap
the keys of this venerable relic !
The showcase of games exhibits adaptions,
practically all still in use, of playing cards,
special card games ; draughts, chess, and other
board games ; dominoes ; jig-saw puzzles, etc.
Of special interest is a French board for
making and solving crossword puzzles.
The special tools for blind handicraftsmen
— shoe-makers, basket-makers, knitters, etc.
— are accompanied by Braille thermometers,
galvanometers, watches, and other adaptations
of appliances needed every day both in
domestic and in professional life.
The Museum contains an interesting gallery
of maps — either raised contour maps and
globes or outline maps where the divisions of
a country, rivers, railway lines, agricultural
and industrial areas and so forth, are shown by
embossed dotted lines or lined and dotted
surfaces. The most elaborate of all these maps
is one from Poland, of the city of Lwow, in
which every street, tram line, railway line,
and all other features of a most involved town
are embossed to scale so clearly and effectively
that it is almost certain that many a blind
visitor to the^ Museum now knows the way
The Barbier Alphabet — the Basis of Braille.
about Lwow better than the way about
London. Other outstanding maps are a star
map and a map of eclipses appropriately
produced by the Moon Society, and the
pamphlet, issued by the National Institute,
showing page by page the Underground
Railways of London.
Some of the mathematical apparatus seems
as complicated to the unmathcmatical as
mathematics itself. The Pythagorean Theo-
rem, for example, appears to shroud itself in
yet deeper mystery behind the big box of
wooden triangles of every conceivable size and
shape. But the uninitiated can find relief in the
Dolanski mathematical apparatus, by which
sums in the first four rules can be worked out
by embossed figures placed beside or under-
neath each other, and added or subtracted as
the case may be. There are boards for
making geometrical designs either with pins
like tintacks, or with strips of pliable wire for
curves, angles, and plans of all kinds, and a
geometrical mat which, used as a pad, enables
a pencil line to " rise " on the surface of a
sheet of paper. Included in this section is
Dr. Casson's Panagram, an apparatus designed
to enable the blind to read with various
shaped blocks. Its impracticability and
complicated character have rendered it of
little use, and it is a typical example of
execution exceeding invention. But as a
wonderful bit of patient workmanship it is well
worth study.
Perhaps the most interesting section of the
Museum is that illustrating the evolution of
embossed type. Notices forbid one to touch
the exhibits, but it is almost impossible to
refrain from passing the fingers over the many
specimens of type just to feel the raised
characters which, fifty or hundred years ago,
must have kindled such beacons of hope in
the minds of the blind. Each word as it
became " visible " to the brain must have
seemed as though it were a sign-post through
a dense forest, showing the way from the
shade to the open spaces. And it is illumin-
ating to try to spell out a message on the
string alphabet used by the Indian tribes of
Mexico in the early part of the 17th century,
where each letter is a different and compli-
cated knot, and then to listen to a Braille
reader, reading aloud with the utmost facility
the day's wireless programmes from the
Braille Radio Times. One of the oldest
exhibits in this section is a copy of a treatise,
PAGE
164
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written in large script, on
the education of the blind.
It is by M. Haiiy and was
dedicated in 1786, three
years before the French
Revolution, to Louis XVI.
Many embossed forms of
Roman type are shown,
some, such as Dr. Howe's
system (1836), closely fol-
lowing a very beautiful
style of print. The example
of Guillie's system is in
Giant size, and in John
Alston's system there is a
specimen of the Book of
Isaiah in small embossed
Roman. Gall's system of
angular type (1834) strikes
one as unnecessarily com-
plicated. A very fine ex-
ample, " Sunlight in the
Clouds," is given of the
Worcester System. To
run the fingers over this
" Moral and Religious Tale " and glide
them immediately on to the Braille characters
of the latest Edgar Wallace " thriller "
provides a thrill in itself — as though one were
playing leap-frog over Time.
One single antique sheet of paper provides
a thrill of a different kind. That sheet of
paper is over a hundred years old and on it is
embossed the Barbier alphabet, Paris, 1823, a
system based on 12 dots. This system was the
basis of the system of Louis Braille who cut
down the twelve dots to six. Close to this
exhibit is a volume of the first work published
in Braille type — by L'Institution Royale des
Jeunes Aveugles — the third volume of" Precis
de l'Histoire de France." In those days, of
course, the paper was embossed on one side
only, but in order to imitate the form of an
ordinary book, the embossed sheets were
pasted together back to back and bound.
This " History of France " is the beginning
of a new era in the" History of the Blind," and
the achievements of that era can be followed
up through the development of contracted
Braille into the highly contracted Braille
shorthand, or through the elementary system
of Braille Music Notation for simple melodies
to the system of to-day which can interpret a
full orchestral score.
Specimens of the latest novels in Braille,
short stories which can be slipped in the- -
A Volume of the First Work to be Published in Braille Type
pocket, newspapers and magazines circulating
in thousands, are exhibited. Of historic
interest is the message in Braille from His
Majesty the King to the blinded soldiers of
the Allied Forces, and the Braille edition,
beautifully bound, of the " Princess Mary
Gift Book."
The Lucas system, i860, illustrated by an
edition of " The Pilgrim's Progress," fore-
shadows the Moon system, which preceded
the use of Braille in this country but is still
extensively used throughout the British
Empire and the United States. The copper
wire and the special tools — one for each
letter — originally used to form the Moon
characters, are shown, with the plates on
which the wire characters were affixed. Moon
books are now printed from a fount of type
which is set up and, after printing, used again
for another book.
Of great interest is the Moon typewriter, a
cumbersome machine which has not been
developed as it might have been.
Several exhibits show how efforts have
often been made to convey the idea of form
and distance to the blind by means of
embossed pictures. Where outlines only are
concerned, the results are fairly satisfactory,
but it is difficult to say whether attempts to
show the gradual disappearance in the
distance of a balloon or the sweep of prairie
page
165
BEACON
convey any meaning. Examples are
given of experiments in humorous outline,
but these are only funny in not being funny.
It is rather extraordinary that the sight of a
comic face may make you explode with
laughter yet the touch of the actual comic
face without sight of it may only make you
stifle your tears.
From string alphabets in Mexican forests
to specially designed wireless sets in the
London of to-day — such is the scope of this
Museum, and the imaginative mind will
explore with intense interest the highways and
byways along which have travelled the
bearers of light to the blind.
(DRRKKMNCE
To the Editor.
The Blind-Deaf.
Sir, — Recent letters in The New Beacon
give the impression that nothing is being done
for the Blind-Deaf. That, however, is not
quite true to fact. For many years there
have been Missions up and down the country
trying to help the deaf and their workers have
been in touch with the blind-deaf and often
made a special feature of these.
In London the Royal Association in aid of
the Deaf and Dumb has for ninety years been
learning the need and the ivay to meet it.
This is not as simple as it may appear, for
the blind-deaf are individual personalities
with very diverse needs and possibilities,
mental and spiritual as well as physical and
social, and what is of real service to one may be
unnecessary and even injurious to another.
To pauperise or spoil them is " cruel kind-
ness." Their nerves are already frayed to
snapping-point and to fan the fires of self-
pity or encourage the attitude that demands
help as a right, may lead to real misery and
discourage sympathy. For the last ten years
the Royal Association in aid of the Deaf and
Dumb in London has had a full-time worker
specially for the blind-deaf, who is assisted
by the other members of the staff and volun-
tary visitors.
This Blind-Deaf Care Branch is trying to
provide that help which experience shows to
be necessary for the true welfare of the blind-
deaf — visitors to take them out and befriend
them, care and attention to health, taking
them to doctors, hospitals, dentists, etc. (it is
most important to save those who already
page
i 66
have so much to bear from any further
suffering if possible), social tea parties, drives,
making arrangements and giving financial
help for an annual change by the sea or in the
country (another vital need as much for mental
as for physical health) — spiritual help making
it possible for them to attend their place of
worship and providing interpreters and giving
them individual religious instruction and
preparation for the Sacraments, finding them
suitable living places, in fact offering help of
every kind according to individual needs.
Wise help, tact and true sympathy are more
necessary than pity for the building up of
character. This should be the aim of all
work for the blind-deaf.
Yours, etc.,
Graham W. Simes,
Secretary.
Royal Association in Aid of the Deaf and
Dumb, 413, Oxford Street, London, W.i
To the Editor.
Are the Blind Exploited?
Sir, — In your April number there appears
the question " Are the blind exploited,
victimized or taken advantage of ? "
In answer to this I would say that from my
own experience, by hearsay as well as by
observation, I am led to the opinion that it is
too often the case. In addition, reports exist
of unkind treatment, and if not violence,
profane language being used. Also, the blind
are too often overworked with a compensation
verging on sweat shop rates. It is an acknow-
leged fact that a blind man or woman engaged
in a line of work is paid less than one who is
sighted even although the latter is of an
inferior ability. In other words, the blind are
paid less than the sighted even though they
may be much superior in every way.
In the case of anv institutions where this
condition prevails, I wonder why the ruling
powers cannot realize that contributions are
made for the benefit of the blind and never
for the sighted. It is surprising that where
this occurs it has not attracted the attention of
those philanthropists who are really such in
deed as well as in words and appearances.
It may be said that it is unbusinesslike to
pay the blind equally with the sighted ;
nevertheless, an institution is run for human-
itarian purposes and the grabbing and
grasping of commercialism should not be
permitted to be in its nature.
Yours, etc.,
A Friend of the Blind.
cDfmO\iw
Published by MP II. /% f f 1 rX. Editorial Offices:
the National |^V 1~~* /—\ I I I ^ 224 Great Port-
Institute for 1 I / \ V i\ / X^ land Street,
the Blind MLS 1 jJL lL V_-> V^_^A X ^1 London. W.\.
EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH.
IT is remarkable that during the present generation there has been no national survey of
the education of blind children — a branch of educational work which perhaps more
than any other calls for foresight and far vision.
This gap in national educational research has been apparent for some time, and
everyone concerned in the education of the blind will welcome the news that something
is to be done to fill it. A programme of educational research is to be undertaken
by a Joint Committee of the National Institute for the Blind and the College of
Teachers of the Blind. The Committee will be assisted by the experience and advice
of experts nominated by the Board of Education and the Ministry of Health, and this
should mean that the education of blind children will be regarded as a part of the whole
educational system of the country and will not be allowed in future to lag behind the march
of general educational progress. There is no doubt that some schools for the blind are more
advanced in methods and outlook than other schools for the blind, but all should definitely
benefit by a closer association with the up-to-date methods and outlook of general schools.
The Committee will meet in the Autumn, when a plan of research will be laid down. We
do not know what that plan will embrace, but the problems to be surveyed will
evidently be many and difficult. Take, for example, the supply of Braille text-books. It
must always be a limited supply, and cannot offer to teachers of the blind the wide
selection of first-class text-books in all branches of study available to teachers in sighted schools.
Probably every teacher of the blind, if asked to advise on the best geography, for instance, would
name a different book. Yet it is impossible to publish Braille editions of all modern geographies,
and some agreement must be made between the teachers as to which geography is really the
most suitable. Every week, almost, claims the latest authoritative work on some branch of
science, but publishers of Braille books should not issue one out of fifty and trust to luck as to
its suitability. They should depend, in their selection, on the advice of the teachers as a body.
Another thorny question is whether blind children should be associated during education
with sighted children, or whether they should be segregated. The unreasonable pros probably
equal the unreasonable cons, and it is a question which can only be decided after open-minded,
wide and intensive research.
Should the education of the blind include domestic and physical training ? Both are
supremely important in the life of a blind p2rson. The ability to bake a pie often exceeds in
practical value the ability to solve the pons asinorum, and physical fitness may overcome the
difficulties of blindness to a greater extent than an alert mentality.
The teaching of manual dexterity is another important matter. The majority of blind
people earn their living by the skill of their hands. Does the elementary education of the blind
attach sufficient importance to the training of the sense of touch as a substitute to the sense of
sight ? The methods adopted in the elementary education of the blind ought, it would seem,
to be based on the principles which recognise the necessity for vocational training in the earliest
stages. The choice of a career is not open to the blind as it is to the sighted. Blindness is a
definite handicap and circumscribes the field of endeavour, but elementary education should
certainly try to widen the field from the very start of mental growth.
Partially blind children and blind-deaf children provide the north and south poles of the
questions incident to the education of the blind. The border lines between sight and blindness
and between blindness and other afflictions are difficult to discern with clearness, yet the future
life of a blind child with a tendency, as it were, to sight, and of a blind child with a tendency
to deafness, depends almost entirely on the nature of the environment of early years, and the
quality and rate of early mental development.
We have indicated but a few of the many questions which will have to receive the attention
of the Educational Research Committee. There are many others, such as, for example, the
selection and training of teachers of the blind, but we feel sure that the formation of the Committee
is a very big step towards the right solution of such problems, and that the labours of the
Committee will be of very real benefit to the blind. The Editor.
page
167
BEACON
ANNUAL SISTERHOOD MEETING AT
THE QUEEN'S HALL.
IT was a sight to be remembered at the
corner of Regent Street, when burly
policemen on point duty held their
hands up to " Green Line " coaches
and " General " omnibuses, and
everybody had to wait whilst women
from many parts of the environs of
London trooped out from the Queen's Hall, and
in a crowd crossed the street to the Polytechnic,
and there had tea and a conversazione ."
So our contemporary, The Methodist Times,
describes the scene which followed the Ninth
Annual Sisterhood Meeting.
This event took place at the Queen's Hall,
on Wednesday, June ioth. At half-past two
the audience began to fill the stalls and the
grand tier — quietly because of the organ
selections given by Mr. H. C. Warrilow,
F.R.C.O. — and by three o'clock, two thousand
eager faces were turned towards the platform.
About two minutes before that time, Mr.
Arthur Fagge stepped on the platform, raised
his baton, and the strains of " Jesu, Lover of
My Soul " floated through the great Hall.
The singers were the Sisterhood Choir,
numbering three hundred. This was the
first occasion on which the Sisters have
provided the Choir, which will certainly
remain a feature of all future Meetings.
Tumultuous applause greeted Captain Sir
Beachcroft Towse, V.C., who presided, as he
entered with Dame Madge Kendal, followed
by other members of the platform party,
among whom were Lady Towse, the Mayoress
of St. Marylebone (Mrs. R. Q. Henriques),
Mrs. Hutton (representing The British Weekly
on behalf of the Rev. Dr. Hutton, who much
regretted his inability to be present), the
Chairman of the Chingford Urban District
Council, Mrs. and Miss Evans, Mr. J. H.
Batty, Mr. and Mrs. R. B. Hughes-Buller
representing the Greater London Fund
Committee, together with members of the
Ladies Social Committee and other influential
voluntary workers particularly interested in
Women's Meetings.
The uplifting note, which all who have had
the privilege of attending these Meetings have
come to recognise as their key-note, was
struck as the vast audience joined as with one
voice in the blind George Matheson's beauti-
ful hymn : " O Love that will not let me go,"
PAGE
1 68
and in the silence that followed, Miss Lily
Wincey, one of the blind singers, stepped
forward and presented to Dame Madge
Kendal the charming Victorian posy which
had been specially prepared by Messrs. A. P.
Prewer & Sons, and given to the Fund for
this purpose.
In his welcome to those present, the Chair-
man said : " I thank you all as representative
of the Sisterhoods of our Churches in and
around London. I want, if I may, to say in
the name of all the blind ' Thank you.' That
thanks comes from the bottom of my heart, .
and from the bottom of the hearts of those
thousands of people you are helping." In
the last ten years, he added, no less than
£300,000 had been collected by the Greater
London Fund for the Blind, and towards
this great sum the sisters had contributed by
their services. He wished to express the
gratitude of the Committee of the Fund to all
who were giving valuable help at the Meeting
to-day, and would specially mention Mr.
Arthur Fagge, Conductor of the London
Choral Society, who was giving his services as
Honorary Musical Director of the Fund ; the
Directors of the Polytechnic, Regent Street,
who had so generously made arrangements
for tea to be served after the Meeting ; The
British Weekly, The Methodist Recorder,
and all other donors of prizes ; the Manager
of the Queen's Hall, and the stewards. He
then called upon Miss Edwards, Sisterhood
Appeal Organiser, to give her report.
Miss Edwards said : " For three successive
years the members of the Sisterhood and
Women's Meetings of our Churches have met
here in Queen's Hall. It is with feelings of
profound gratitude that I now present the
Ninth Annual Report in relation to the
Sisterhood work. This last year has been
one of strenuous endeavour ; step by
step you Sisters have mounted the Hill
Difficulty on Life's Highway, and realising
that your path has been illuminated with the
radiance of the sun by day and the glory of
the moon and stars by night, you have paused
by the roadside to stretch forth the helping
hand of sympathy and love to that great army
of 10,000 also climbing the same path, but on
the shadowed side of the road. When you
gained the cross roads and saw the sign post,
BEACON
illuminated in letters of gold — ' Geranium
Day, 193 i ' — yon laid aside your own burdens
for a brief space to help those others climbing
— many of them with painful steps and slow.
And then you saw the vision when the day was
done — the vision of Emmanuel's land from
the top of the hill so difficult to climb.
" You will be glad to know that your great
effort has amounted to upwards of £1,250 on
' Geranium Day ' alone, and a further £346
has been raised by concerts, box collections,
sales of work, etc., bringing the total to over
£1,600, an increase on last year's return of
£200. No less than £6,600 has been raised
by your efforts during the last nine years. This
year many new Sisterhoods have joined our
ranks and we have welcomed them gladly.
" 1 have very much pleasure in announcing
Workshop for Blind Women's prize of a hand-
woven tea cloth was awarded to Miss
Breadnam of Grays Congregational Church
for £8 2s. 2d. ; and the Rev. Alfred Sharp
(President of the National Free Church
Council for 1930) had given a book prize to be
handed to Mrs. Channon, who was not only
responsible for organising the Penge and
Anerley district, but had collected personally
£5 10s. 6d. of the £48 19s. 4d. from that area.
The Management Committee of the Greater
London Fund for the Blind awarded a
special prize to Mr. Atkins, a friend of the
Hackney Wesleyan Central Mission, who
collected for the Sisters £5 2s. 4W. ; and
another special prize was the gift of Mr. R. J.
James, publisher to the Band of Hope Union,
to be offered to Miss Dav, organiser of the
that the Silver Tea Urn, generously given by
The British Weekly, has been won for the
third time in succession by the Wesleyan
Sisterhood Club, Quex Road, Kilburn, who
have collected the splendid amount of
£118 6s. as against £100 4s. 3d. raised last
year, and therefore this Tea Urn becomes
their property. We heartily congratulate our
friends on this wonderful achievement."
When the applause that greeted the
announcement of these figures had subsided,
Miss Edwards further stated that again the
Methodist Recorder had given a prize of Silver
Tea Spoons to the lady who had collected the
largest sum by her personal effort, the
winner being Mrs. Webb, also a member of
the Quex Road Wesleyan Sisterhood Club,
whose collection was £8 6s. 4d. The Barclay
Grays district, as the united efforts of the
Sisterhoods of that area had won for them the
second place in the Competition for the last
three years, the amount collected in 1931
being £73 2s. iod. Certificates signed by
Dr. Hutton would be handed later to all
Meetings which had helped in the " Geranium
Day " Competition.
" £6,600 — what a fine achievement and
worthy of your united efforts!" Miss Edwards
concluded. "But let us not be weary in well
doing on the upward path ; for when next
' Geranium Day ' approaches and this Meeting
is but a memory, you may meet with Mr.
Timorous and Mr. Mistrust on the road, who
will tell you of the lions in the path — then, if
you are valiant like Christian, you will go
forward and the Vision Splendid will be yours,
PAGE
169
BEACON
and like him you will be welcomed at the end
of the road into the Celestial City and hear
those words ' Well done, thou good and
faithful servant.' "
Before distributing the prizes Dame Madge
Kendal acknowledged smilingly the enthusi-
astic greetings of the Sisters.
" This is a happy Meeting — isn't it ? " she
said. " I've never heard of such sums of
money being collected before ! It seems like
a fairy story, and yet when I look round I
can't say you look like fairies : you look like
something better than fairies, good-hearted
women and men who have come to help those
for whom Sir Beachcroft Towse has said
' Thank you.' "
Dame Madge caused great amusement by
declaring that she had not the heart to give
away the Tea Urn for ever, and when Mrs.
Waterman stepped forward to claim it on
behalf of the Quex Road Wesleyan Sisterhood
Club, removed the lid and clung to this
tenderly, begging Mrs. Waterman to allow her
to keep just one little piece. Before Dame
Madge delivered up the lid, saying that she
hoped Mrs. Waterman would make nice tea
and not forget to put the sugar in the cups,
the photographer had " snapped " a happy
picture, which will live long in the memories
of the amused spectators.
Each prize was accompanied by a witty
phrase for the recipient to treasure with the
award, and the great domed ceiling re-echoed
the laughter of two thousand women as she
told the solitary man prize-winner, " I have
always been afraid of your sex ; but I have
now reached the age when I can bear the sight
of a mere man."
So the veteran actress swayed the audience
to tears and laughter with that consummate
art which held her generation spellbound in
the heyday of her fame.
The last speaker was " a mere man " — Mr.
H. C. Preece, the eloquent blind secretary of
the Fund, who was welcomed with the
heartiness appropriate to friendship of nine
years' standing. He, too, was " grave and
gay," his stories rousing the audience to
fresh merriment, led by Dame Madge herself.
In more serious vein, he said : " We love you
women, we blind men. You do not pour over
us unavailing streams of compassion. You do
not look upon us as objects for your pity but
as opportunities for your service. You
understand us, and that is why we love
PAGE
170
you. . . . You give the blind a new life
You bear our burdens, and so you fulfil that
Divine Command of Him Whose highest
expression was a generous and continuous
service. Ten thousand of us — blind of
London — offer this prayer for you women :
that the glorious gift of sight may be preserved
for every one of you until the end, that it may
be given and preserved to your children and
to your children's children, and that so you
will be rewarded for the magnificent way in
which you have helped God Himself to fulfil
in our day the promise made long ago in
Isaiah : ' / will bring the blind by a way they
knew not ; I will lead them in paths thai they
have not known : I will make darkness light
before them, and crooked things straight. These
things zvill Idoun to them ,and not forsake them . " '
The delightful musical programme which
makes this gathering unique among Meetings
was deeply appreciated. Mr. H. C. Warrilow,
familiar as the Musical Director of the
National Institute for the Blind, chose for his
organ solo " Minuet and Trio in B flat " by
W. G. Wood. He was followed by Miss
Isabella Vass, who received a particularly
warm welcome, as a very special friend of the
Sisters, and other artistes well known to them
who contributed to the programme were
Miss Lily Wincey and Mr. William Turner,
who, with Mr. Michael Doyle, completed the
popular G.L.F. Quartet.
The collection taken at the Meeting
amounted to £39 13s. 8d.
Tears shone in many eyes as this memorable
Meeting concluded with the Community
Hymn " Lead, Kindly Light," but they were
happy tears, springing from the depths of
hearts full of that true joy which is surely the
most precious gift of the Spirit.
A Correction.
The presentation to Mrs. Hattersley Ward,
Superintendent of the Barclay Workshops for
Blind Women, on May 15th, was made, on
behalf of the Committee, by the Viscountess
Brentford, not by the Viscountess Chelmsford,
as stated in the last issue of The New Beacon.
Stereotyping Machines Ready for Sale.
The stereotyping machines made by the
American Braille Press, 74, Rue Lauriston,
Paris, are now ready for delivery, and orders
are being taken at a price of 350 dollars, f.o.b.
Paris, that is, approximately £72.
BEACON
DR. EDWARD ALLEN
A N article on the career of
f^L Dr. Edward Allen ap-
/ m peared in The Beacon some
/ m years ago, but in view of
/ % the fact that Dr. Allen has
1 ^L within the last few weeks
-^ -^- retired from his post as
Director of the Perkins Institution, Massa-
chusetts, after twenty-four years selfless
devotion to it and altogether forty years
dedicated to the interests of the blind, it is
perhaps fitting that some account should be
given once again of his fine record of service.
He was born near Boston seventy years ago
and was educated first in Germany, and later,
at Harvard, where he graduated in natural
science, and for a year studied medicine.
Fortunately, however, for the blind, he gave
up the plan of becoming a doctor, and
coming over to London he took a post at the
Royal Normal College which he held for
three years. At the end of this time he
returned to America, and was for two years
on the staff of the Perkins Institution until
his appointment as Principal of the Pennsyl-
vania Institution, Philadelphia.
There he remained for sixteen years, and
did important pioneer work ; he had brought
with him from the Royal Normal College a
very strong sense of the importance of
physical training for the blind, and an
appreciation of beauty and the value of
beautiful surroundings, which stood the
management of the Philadelphia School in
good stead, when it was decided to build
in the suburb of Overbrook.
In 1907, Dr. Anagnos, the Director of the
Perkins Institution, died, and Dr. Allen was
invited to succeed him. For the past
twenty-four years then, he has been working
at Perkins. In 1912 the Perkins Institution,
under Dr. Allen's superintendence, moved
from the old hotel in South Boston where
it had been established since 1839, to fine
new buildings and grounds on the banks of
the Charles River. Those who recently
had the privilege of visiting the Institution
during the New York World Conference
have brought back stories of its stately
buildings and beauties that would have been
difficult to believe had they not substantiated
their accounts of it by photographs. As
Overbrook, the place reflects, architecturally
and aesthetically, Dr. Allen's practical ideas.
We read in a recent Report of the Institution
that one of the things which a teacher should
strive to impart to the children in his care is
" a loving first-hand acquaintance with their
natural surroundings," and in surroundings
so beautiful as those of the Perkins Institution
it should assuredly not be difficult. " Here "
— to quote from a booklet given to delegates
at the Conference — " in well-equipped school-
rooms, with gymnasium and swimming
pool, library, museum, and printing plant, its
pupils to the number of about 280 . . .
carry out a well varied and systematic
curriculum . . . the cottage family plan,
its unique feature, providing the socialisation
of the pupils so that they may be acceptable
members of the community later."
Dr. Allen is so intimately bound up with
the Perkins Institution, and the Perkins
Institution owes so much to his guidance
and inspiration, that it is difficult to prevent
any article dealing with him from becoming
a mere account of the Institution with all its
amenities, its library, museum, domestic
science centre, kindergarten, and so on. But
fine equipment is not everything, and we are
concerned here rather with the ideals which
lie behind the fine buildings, and which have
characterised Dr. Allen's work throughout,
and helped him to achieve his ends. We have
spoken of his love of beauty, and jthe impor-
tant place he gives to physical fitness, but no
account of his work would be complete that
did not stress some of his other aims.
The prevention of blindness has always
been a matter of deep concern to him, and a
friend who knows him has spoken of the joy
that lit up his face when he was able to
announce that owing to the improved concern
for infant welfare, the Home for Blind Babies
at Massachusetts would no longer be needed
specifically for that purpose. His experience
in London interested him in the problem of
the myopic child, and on his return from
England he actively promoted the opening
of the first Sight-Saving Class in Boston.
He has studied the conditions prevailing
in most schools for the blind in the United
States, and has visited many schools in
Europe, being always ready to place his
own wide knowledge and experience at
the disposal of his fellow-educators. He
PAGE
171
BEACON
has studied the psychology of the blind child
and co-operated with the American Founda-
tion in having the Perkins kindergarten made
an experimental school under the supervision
of the Foundation's psychologist. But to
Dr. Allen, psychology is not a mere matter
of the laboratory ; he carries his wise and
sympathetic understanding of the child-mind
into every-day life, and the same friend who
spoke of his happiness in the diminution of
child-blindness gives a pleasant picture of him
as he encourages the small children at
Perkins " to build wonderful log-cabins in
the open air of the lovely grounds ; but
when the house is built he understands and
permits the joy of demolishing it. He
sympathises and encourages his young blind
farmers, who bring him of the best yields of
their small plots, and he lingers with them
in sympathetic admiration of their portly and
dignified pig."
Perhaps one of Dr. Allen's most important
achievements has been his work in con-
nection with the training of teachers for the
blind at the Harvard Class which he created.
The course over which he presides is recog-
nised and carries credit to those who hold a
degree, and it is interesting to read that of 120
students who had studied with Dr. Allen up
to October of last year, 85 had entered on
work in the education of the blind, and of
these seven filled principalships, two were
executive heads of residential schools, and
one a government official in charge of special
education. At one time twenty-five
languages, including Esperanto, were under-
stood by the pupils of the Harvard Class.
The encouragement of Braille and the final
settlement of the type question in 1916 owe
much to Dr. Allen, and Braille printing has
always greatly interested him. Perkins has a
separate, highly organised Braille printing
plant which has made a notable contribution
of Braille music, books, etc., and produced
some interesting raised illustrations.
The library at Perkins contains a unique
and the most important collection of inkprint
" Blindiana " and tactile literature as well as
records of every kind in print, including
newspaper clippings, etc., from all the world.
The museum of " Blindiana," created by Dr.
Allen, is also world-famous.
He has devoted much thought to the
particularly pathetic group of the deaf-blind.
" The education of these children," he
PAGE
172
writes in a recent issue of The Teachers' Forum
" cannot be too broad and rich ... we
should not grudge them either what they can
get out of existence or what the preparation
for it should cost. Let anyone who questions
this last try to imagine what life would be
worth to him if unable to hear and unable to
see." Miss Helen Keller, a pupil at Perkins,
owes much to Dr. Allen, who put into Braille
books essential for her college work.
It is difficult not to appear to be exaggera-
tive when endeavouring to appraise the value
of Dr. Allen's work for the blind. Picture
a man born " blessed by all the fairies,"
descended on both sides from that sterling
old " Mayflower " stock, possessed of genuine
culture, a profound scholar — in brief, a man
of the old school, a gentle man. To most
men of that type, the world would seem to be
the arena for a brilliant spectacular career, or
if public life were distasteful, a fair field for
cultured pleasure. But Dr. Allen thought
otherwise. For him were the quiet achieve-
ments of philanthropy, not the glory of
worldly success and the glitter of publicity.
He has ever been an idealist, yet he has never
permitted his ideals to etherealise the facts of
life. He has tackled the problems confront-
ing him with the practical grasp of a man of
business, but behind his actions has been the
far vision of the statesman. He has impressed
his own dignity on his work, and to the
execution of his self-appointed task he has
brought the spirit of high adventure. In
following the way of his ambition, he has
gained esteem and affection, and " the human
record of his great and rare service " — as it is
described by an acquaintance — proves the
truth of his own favourite message to the
blind, " They can who think they can."
We have written throughout this article
of " Dr. " Allen, and it is perhaps worth
noting here that he graduated from Harvard
cum laude, and that the title of D.Sc. was
conferred upon him honoris causa about a
year ago by the University of Pennsylvania,
in recognition of his eminent services in the
education of the blind. At the request of
the Board of Directors he remains Director
Emeritus and Director of the Harvard Class
for the Blind. Dr. Allen's many friends in
England rejoice at the honour paid to him,
and look forward to conveying their congratu-
lations to him in person during his visit to
England this summer.
BFACON
METHODS OF REMUNERATION
ii.
By BEN PURSE.
IT is not our intention in these articles
so to present the facts relating to each
institution as to constitute a series of
criticisms pitting the, work of one
organisation against the other. Our
object is to give the known character-
istics and facts in order that where
details of importance can be introduced into
a system, those associated with workshop
management ma}' carefully consider the
respective merits of any such system. Else-
where we have dealt at length with minimum
wages and task labour, and our object here is
merely to present to the readers of this
journal such up-to-date information as may
enable them to reach a sound judgment on
economic questions of paramount importance.
When we are considering the evolution of
the special workshop idea we cannot fail to
admire the active interest and work of those
who espoused the cause towards the middle
of the last century. The undertakings for
which they were responsible seem to us,
viewing them from such a distance, to be very
puny and almost insignificant. It is only
when we realise the nature of the obstacles
with which those early pioneers had to
contend that we are constrained to bestow
upon them that measure of appreciation to
which they are so justly entitled. No one is
so foolish as to imagine that finality has been
reached in the development of workshop
organisation, and no one suggests that such
facilities cannot be vastly improved and
widely extended. But these considerations
should not prevent us from recognising
whole-heartedly the progress that has been
made, nor should we be deterred from
offering helpful criticism where the exigencies
of the situation seem to require such.
In this article we desire to draw attention
to the work of the Cardiff Institution for the
Blind, for in many respects its activities differ
fundamentally from those of other agencies
undertaking welfare work. In no sense can
this institution be regarded as a wealthy
corporation. The Society is able to pay 20s.
in the pound, and generally to make modest
provision for likely contingencies, but it has
no large bank balance upon which to draw for
the sustenance of its work.
If wc may venture to express an opinion in
this connection wc would say that such a
status is not necessarily prejudicial to its work,
for the management realise that results must
be secured during the everyday life of the
agency if it is to continue to maintain a
healthy existence. Within recent years the
workshop and factory employees in the
Cardiff area have liberally supported the
claims of the Institution, and this fact has
rendered it possible for the management to
provide substantial sums for the augmentation
of wages.
In the last article we drew attention to the
fact that the Hull Institution had inaugurated
a system of wage payments based upon what
is known as the " variable minimum," and
that so far as could be seen not only the
management but the workers appear to
favour the arrangement. At Cardiff, however,
the minimum wage, except for women, is not
favoured by the management, though we are
informed that a local agitation has been
conducted by a small section of the workers
with a view to securing the minimum rate of
wages paid to unskilled labour employed by
the citv council. We are advised that the
management of the Cardiff institution have in
mind the numerous minimum wage experi-
ments and do not find that the results justify
them in departing from their own well-tried
system of wage payments.
The Cardiff Institution for the Blind was
established in 1865, and for fifty-three years
conducted ordinary trading operations before
seeking a charter of incorporation, which was
obtained in the year 191 8.
Since the system of wage payments
obtaining at the Cardiff institution is probably
the only one of its kind in the country, it will
be useful to give a detailed description, and as
far as possible it is proposed to employ the
official language used by the management in
order to avoid possible errors. The system
provides a bonus of 22s. 6d. weekly for all
married men for a full week's work, and a
bonus of 13s. to all single men and women. If
there are children of school age dependent on
the married person, 2s. is allowed for the
first child and is. each for the others. In
addition Trade Union rates of wages are paid,
PAGE
173
BEACON
and to such rates is added a further percentage
which ranks as augmentation, the percentage
varying according to the particular department
or the Trade Union list. For example, in the
basket- making department, Trade Union
rates are paid, plus 25 per cent, augmentation,
plus general subsidy. In the mat-making
department, Trade Union rates are paid, plus
10 per cent, augmentation, plus the general
subsidy. In the ships' fenders department
where no Trade Union list exists, " we have
fixed a rate of wage which allows the article
to be made at an economic rate for competi-
tion, but we pay to the workers 100 per cent,
augmentation because they could not other-
wise approach anything like a living wage.
The same arrangements apply to our coal-bag
making." The women workers receive a
minimum wage of 28s. 6d. per week, but in
this connection we are informed that " only
their actual earnings are entered in the trade
wages column."
During the years 1930-31 88 blind persons
were employed, 62 men and 26 women. For
purposes of comparison we give below the
wages, bonuses and augmentation paid during
the past three years. A perusal of these
figures will doubtless occasion some surprise
among those who believe that economic
earnings should always be a higher amount
than that made available for subsidy purposes.
Our business at the moment, however, is not
to make excursions into the sphere of criticism,
but merely to record the facts as they are
reported to us.
1928-29 1929-30 1930-31
Wages £2,604 £2,630 £2,237
Augmentation & Bonuses £4,149 £4,676 £4,805
Good Conduct Money . . £257 £291 £316
Holidays £124 £118 £114
We have previously suggested that the
system of wage payments obtaining at the
Cardiff Institution differs fundamentally from
that in operation elsewhere. The responsible
authorities find that these arrangements work
well, but it is clear from the facts recorded
that the volume of voluntary charity far
exceeds the economic earnings of the under-
taking, and doubtless on this account the
Council of the Cardiff Institution will rightly
contend that the organisation is in every
sense a philanthropic one, and therefore
entitled to a large measure of public support.
We remember other days when the position
of the blind worker employed at this same
PAGE
174
institution was not a happy one, but within
recent years such radical improvements have
been effected as to secure an honourable place
for the organisation among those agencies that
are entitled to our respect and admiration.
During the past few years the society has been
fortunate in retaining the services as manager
of Mr. Charles A. Martin, who is not only a
keen business man but also deeply interested
in every aspect of welfare work to which he
devotes much time and attention.
We understand that the Cardiff City
Council provide much substantial help for
this organisation and have recently given
evidence of increased interest and support.
There is no very marked evidence on the part
of the municipality of a desire to assume
control of this institution, nor do we feel that
they would be in a position to manage the
undertaking with greater skill and efficiency
than is displayed by the present council of
this voluntary organisation.
(To be continued.)
THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL.
Members of Executive Committee.
The members of the Executive Committee
of the International Council of the Blind,
elected by the delegates at the New York
Conference acting as a World Council, are as
follows : —
Dr. Siegfried Altmann, Director, Israelitische
Blinden-Institut, Vienna, Austria.
Mr. W. McG. Eagar, Secretary-General,
National Institute for the Blind, London,
England.
Herr Alrik Lundberg, De Blindas Forening,
Stockholm, Sweden.
Dr. Miguel Merida Nicolich, Director, Insti-
tuto Municipal para Ciegos y Sordos-
Mudos, Malaga.
Commendator Dottore Aurelio Nicolodi,
Director, Unione Italiana dei Ciechi,
Florence, Italy.
Fraulein Margaret Schaffer, Secretary, Bern-
ischer Blindenfursorgeverein, Berne,
Switzerland.
Dr. Carl Strehl, Syndikus, Blindenstudienan-
stalt, Marburg-Lahn, Germany.
Mr. Tadasu Yoshimoto, Japan and Oxford.
M. Paul Guinot, Secretary-General, Feder-
ation Nationale des Aveugles Civils, Paris.
BEACON
COLLEGE OF TEACHERS OF THE BLIND
Examiners' Reports on School and Home Teachers' Examinations, 1931.
School Teachers' Examination.
T
HE Twenty-Third Examin-
ation of the College was
held on 19th and 20th May,
at the School for the Blind,
Swiss Cottage, London,
N.W.3.
Seventeen candidates
entered — thirteen women and four men — all
of whom took the Examination for the first
time.
The work of the candidates was good with
the exception of Arithmetic. Eleven can-
didates gained the certificate. Their names
with the number of subjects in which honours
were secured are as follows : — Howard, Mr.
A. S. (4), Ludgate, Miss E. McH. (3),
Metcalf, Miss A. (5), Nicholls, Mrs. K. F. J.
(2), Parker, Miss M. A. (1), Pinniger, Miss D.
E. (3), Powell, Miss F. E. (1), Rothwell, Mr.
F. (4), Symes, Mr. J. W. L. (2), Theakston,
Miss D. (2), Waid,Miss D. (1).
Arthur Pearson Prize.
The Arthur Pearson Prize was awarded to
Miss A. Metcalf of the Stoneleigh Special
School for the Blind and Deaf, Leicester ;
Mr. F. Rothwell of the Royal Blind School,
Broomhill, Sheffield was proxime accessit.
Home Teachers' Examination.
The ninth Examination for the Home
Teachers Certificate was held simultaneously
at the School for the Blind, Swiss Cottage,
London, N.W., School for the Blind, Waver-
tree, Liverpool, and the Royal School for the
Blind, Edinburgh, on Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday, 5th, 6th and 7th May,
I93I-
Eighty-two candidates entered for the
Examination of whom 80 presented themselves
and 21 of these were re-entrants, three of
whom had previously obtained the Certificate.
Forty-nine Certificates have been granted.
Of the successful candidates 5 were blind,
7 partially blind and 37 sighted.
The Arthur Pearson Prize was awarded to
Miss M. C. Fricker of the Essex County
Association for the Blind ; Miss D. G. L.
Hall of Bolton Workshops and Homes for the
Blind was proxime accessit.
The following is a list of successful can-
didates ; the number of subjects in which
honours were obtained is indicated after each
name :—Begg, Miss A. R., Blackwell, Mrs.
N. K. (2), Booth, Miss L. (5), Bottomley,
Miss M. L. (2), Braceivell, Mr. J. R. (1),
Brazen, Miss E. (2), Brine, Miss H. L.,
Browne, Mr. J. S. (4), Burkitt, Mrs. M.,
Bynon, Miss G. B. (2), Campbell, Miss S. L.
(i), Carr, Miss M. E., Charlwood, Miss M. (3),
Christie, Miss V. (4), Clark, Miss A. (1),
Crofts, Miss A. (1), Cutting, Miss C. E. (3),
Davies, Miss E. M. (1), Dakins, Mr. W. F.,
Edwards, Mr. J. M. (2), Fricker, Miss M. C.
(5), Garratt, Miss F. B. (5), Gourlay, Miss
M.D.(i), Herrald, Miss J. M.(i), Flail, Miss
D. G. L. (6), Holborow, Miss M. L. M.,
Hotson, Miss IF B. (2), Hughes, Miss E. A. (2),
Hughes, Mr. J. (1), Jones, Mr. E. (1),
Jones, Miss P.' E. (1), Ledger, Mr. A. E.,
Lord, Miss L. (4), Lynch, Mrs. D. F. (2),
McQuade, Miss J. M., Millne, Miss A. R. (4),
Morgan, Miss M. (4), Mote, Miss D. E. (2),
Newson, Miss M. (4), Owen, Miss E. L. M. (4),
Partridge, Mr. C. A. (1), Ramsbottom, Miss
M. G., Read, Miss M. E. A., Rutherford, Miss
C. E. (2), Snell, Miss E. M., Stoker, Miss M.
(4), Thomson, Mr. J. D. (2), Williamson, Miss
M. G. (4), Woolway, Miss M.G.(\).
E. D. MacGregor Prize.
The Annual Competition for the E. D.
MacGregor Prize was conducted by the
Examiners, on behalf of the Union of Counties
Associations for the Blind, on May 7th.
There were two entrants but as neither
showed sufficient ability in teaching and the
schemes submitted were poor the prize was
not awarded.
Home for the Blind, Torr, Plymouth.
The Torr Home is now well established in
its new quarters, and the two photographs
that illustrate the Report for 1930-31 give an
attractive picture of some of the blind
residents in their sitting-room, and a view
of the Home from the grounds. A donation
of £250 from the National Institute for the
Blind is gratefully acknowledged.
PAGE
175
BEACON
UNION OF COUNTIES ASSOCIATIONS
FOR THE BLIND.
Midland Counties Association for the Blind.
The Annual Meeting of the Midland
Counties Association for the Blind was held at
the Town Hall, Oxford, on May 29th, 1931,
under the Chairmanship of Miss Merivale.
The Committee discussed the appointment
of a General Purposes Committee as it was
felt that the General Committee had now
grown too large owing to the number of
representatives nominated to that Committee
since the passing of the Local Government
Act, 1929. It was considered that routine
business could best be dealt with by a Sub-
Committee and that the appointment of such
a Committee would be helpful to the general
efficiency of the Association.
It was therefore decided that a General
Purposes Committee be appointed consisting
of ten members — four representatives from
the Voluntary Agencies, four representatives
from Local Authorities and two blind mem-
bers— with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman
ex-officio.
The functions of this Sub-Committee will
be to deal with routine business and to act in
an advisory capacity.
Miss Merivale was appointed to represent
the Association on the Executive Council of
the National Institute for the Blind.
The following delegates were appointed to
represent the Association on the Council of
the Union of Counties Associations for the
Blind :— Dr. Holden, Mrs. Knapp, Mrs.
Barton Land, Mr. Starling, Mr. Thomas, and
Mr. Wilson, and Miss Merivale and Miss
LIrmson were appointed as Members of the
Executive Committee of the LTnion.
After the conclusion of formal business Miss
Merivale and Mr. Starling gave an account
of their experiences at the World Conference
for the Blind held in New York last April.
Miss Merivale spoke on the general work
undertaken by the delegates and the wide
range of their activities, followed by an account
of the work done in connection with the
Social Welfare and Home Teaching and
Visiting of the Blind.
Mr. Starling, who was more particularly
interested in the industrial aspect of the
Conference, dealt with the subject of Work-
shops and Employment.
PAGE
176
The Committee was greatly interested in
what Miss Merivale and Mr. Starling said, as
this was the first occasion upon which those
present had had the opportunity of hearing at
first hand an account of what had taken place
at the World Conference.
Eastern Counties Association for the Blind.
The Annual Meeting of the Eastern
Counties Association for the Blind was held
at the County Hall, Cambridge, on Friday,
the 19th June, 1931, at which the Chairman,
the Rev. Dr. T. C. Fitzpatrick (President of
Queens' College, Cambridge) presided in the
morning ; and Mr. J. P. Kirkman, M.A., J. P.,
in the afternoon (owing to the absence of the
Vice-Chairman, Major General R. N. R.
Reade, C.B., C.M.G.)
The Hon. Officers were re-elected, together
with the Council which consists of one
Representative nominated by each County and
County Borough Council, two Representatives
from each Voluntary Agency which sub-
scribes to the funds of the Association, and
five co-opted Members. The Rev. Canon
C. E. Bolam was elected to represent the
Eastern Counties Association on the Council
of the National Institute for the Blind.
The Representatives on the General Com-
mittee of the Union of Counties Associations
for the Blind are the Chairman the Rev. Dr.
T. C. Fitzpatrick (or Vice-Chairman, General
Reade) the Rev. Canon C. E. Bolam, Major
T. H. Bryant, Mr. R. C. Fanthorpe, Mr. E.
Evans, Mrs. Nussey, Mr. A. K. Turner, and
the Secretary, Miss M. C. Tenney. The
Representatives elected by the Association to
the Executive Commitee of the Union of
Counties Associations are the Rev. Canon
C. E. Bolam, and the Secretary, Miss Tenney.
The Report and Balance Sheet were
approved and Grants made to each of the
Societies with a Special Grant to the Norwich
Institution towards the Extension Scheme.
Among the decisions arrived at by the
meeting was an agreement to re-establish the
Executive Committee, and to hold a Confer-
ence of Home Teachers, the latter practice
having been dropped since 1927.
The following subjects were discussed : the
Incomes of necessitious and unemployable
blind persons ; British Wireless for the
BEACON
Blind Fund ; Memorandum from the Nat-
ional Institute for the Blind ; the Prevention
of Blindness and a Home for mentally-
retarded blind children.
The following items of interest occur in the
Annual Report which was presented to, and
adopted by, the meeting : there is a total of
3,285 on the Register ; and an Observation
List containing 584 names and particulars of
those whose sight is defective but who are
not registered under the Blind Persons Act is
kept ; these cases are carefully watched and
much sight has been saved in this way. There
are four blind persons on the Register who
are 100 years old — one in South Bedfordshire,
one in East Suffolk, one in West Suffolk and
one in Great Yarmouth. There are twenty-
five Home Teachers in the Area, two of whom
are part-time, and during the year approxi-
mately 25,500 visits to the blind have been
paid by these Home Teachers, excluding, ol
course, all Social Gatherings. Mention is
made in the Report of the Garden City in
Bucarest established by " Carmen Silva " in
the hope that there may be someone who
would like to follow " Carmen Silva's " lead,
and create, as a lasting memorial, a Garden
City for the blind.
South Eastern and London Counties Associa-
tion for the Blind.
The Annual Report of the East Ham
Welfare Association for the Blind gives an
account of another year of excellent work by
this efficient Association. Many suggestions
will be found in it by those who are looking
for hints to improve similar work. Good use
is made of voluntary help and of the powers
of the Local Authority. Copies can be
obtained from the Hon. Secretary, Town
Hall, East Ham, E.6.
The Annual Report of the Berkshire
County Blind Society bespeaks excellent
work by the Society, but it records the fact
that the Berkshire County Council gives no
financial help directly to blind persons or to
the Society for welfare work. The Report
embodies reports from each of the four local
Sub-Committees centred in the towns of
Maidenhead", Newbury, Windsor, and
Wokingham. By vigorously enlisting and
organising voluntary help and raising volun-
tary funds, the Society has achieved much, but
it states clearly how much still waits to be done.
It has only succeeded in raising incomes to
12s. 6d. a week at present. Copies of the
Report can be obtained from the Hon"
Secretary at the Town Hall Chambers,
Reading.
The Southampton Association for the
Welfare of the Blind publishes its first
Annual Report since it took the place of the
former Southampton Association for the
Blind. The Report explains the circumstances
of the change and gives an informative
account of the work now being done for the
blind of the County Borough of Southampton,
with details of the constitution, objects, and
rules of the new Association, its relation to and
co-operation with the County Borough
Council, its voluntary resources, the classi-
fication of its register of blind persons,
instances of what it and the County Borough
Council together are able to do for them,
special mention of financial assistance to the
unemployable blind and of the provision of
wireless, and the addresses of blind workers
wanting orders. Copies can be obtained from
the General Secretary, Municipal Offices,
High Street, Southampton.
Fixtures.
South Eastern and London Counties
Association for the Blind — 21st July, 1931 .
(Executive Council — 2.30 p.m. Executive
Council N.B.R.S. — 3.30 p.m. Annual
General Meeting — 4 p.m.)
OBITUARY
We much regret to report the deaths of : —
Walter King, the blind sportsman and
politician. In 19 10 he unsuccessfully op-
posed Sir A. Acland-Hood.the chief Conser-
vative Whip, in the Wellington Division of
Somerset, and afterwards supported Sir
Robert Newman, the Independent M.P. for
Exeter. For a short time he was a Socialist
Candidate for a Somerset constituency. In
his younger days he was a keen follower of
hounds, but later he spoke on many platforms
in favour of the abolition of cruel sports. He
was always to be seen at the big agricultural
shows in the country, and there were fewer
finer judges of horses and cattle.
John Whall, of Hounslow, the blind
Editor of the Middlesex Chronicle. He edited
the paper for forty years, succeeding the late
William le Queux. He was educated at the
Swiss Cottage School for the Blind, and at one
time conducted a Philharmonic Society.
PAGE
177
BEACON
REVLEWS
REPORTS
National Baby Week Council.
The Annual Report of the National Baby
Week Council for 1930 states that it is now
fourteen years since the crusade of propa-
ganda in the cause of maternity and child-
welfare was launched, and although much has
been done, much still remains to do.
As in former years the attention of the
public was directed during the week to three
special subjects ; these were the need of a
National Maternity Service, of more Nursery
Schools, and of the further spreading of a
knowledge of parentcraft. The Report grate-
fully acknowledges the very warm support of
the public press in bringing these specially
selected subjects before a wide number of
readers.
Blind Girls' School, Hunan, China.
There can be few centres of work for the
blind carried on against heavier odds than
the little school at Hunan, but it is impossible
to read of the work done without a feeling of
wonder and admiration for the dauntless
courage of the mission-workers there ; ill-
health among the children they look after,
attacks by Communists, damage to buildings
by heavy rain-storms seem to be commonplaces
of every day, yet the work goes on, and the
Libenzeller Mission heads its Annual Report
with " Be of good cheer ; I have overcome
the world."
Hill Murray Institute for the Blind, Peking.
In the 1929 Report of the Hill Murray
Institute we were told that their sales had
risen to " an unprecedented figure " ; in the
1930 Report we are told that this figure has
been nearly doubled, and that for the time
being the Institute is free from financial
embarrassment. Annual Reports are gener-
ally very dull reading, but the superintendent
of the Institute is to be congratulated on the
way he makes dry bones live, and strikes a
note of personal interest without ever becom-
ing sentimental. His account of how self-
government has been introduced into the
loom-weaving shop, and how the blind boys
have responded to the experiment is full of
interest.
PAGE
178
ACHIEVEMENTS
OF THE BLIND
The King Confers Distinction on Two
Blind Men.
Two blind men, Captain Gerald Lowry, of
London, and Mr. A. Fullerton, of Dublin,
were invested by the King last month with
the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Captain
Lowry, the well-known osteopath, was
decorated for his work among the poor in the
East End.
Blind Novelist Visits Russia.
Mr. F. Le Gros Clark, the novelist, who has
frequently contributed to The New Beacon,
has gone to Russia with a party of tourists.
He is blind, has lost one arm, and is otherwise
maimed. Unscathed after years in the War
as an infantryman, he was wounded after the
Armistice by the accidental explosion of some
hand-grenades.
Blind Children's Success at Yorkshire Music
Festival.
Two children from the Yorkshire School
for the Blind figured prominently in the prize
list at the Yorkshire Choral Competition, last
month. They were Thomas Christian (13),
a Lincolnshire boy, who was placed first out
of twelve competitors in the junior piano solo
class (under 14 years), and Olive Stead, who
took second place in the junior piano solo
class (under 16 years).
A Programme of Sensitive Beauty.
The concert given last month by the pupils
of the Yorkshire School for the Blind at York,
was described in the Press as not only an
excellent entertainment but as a programme
of music which contained many items of
sensitive beauty. Miss Kathleen Torr, a
former pupil of the School, now living in Hull,
was the outstanding performer. She sang
with charm and played the piano with ability.
Appointment of Blind Vicar.
The Rev. Percy Claud Nichols, B.A., a
blind Church of England clergyman, of
Penge, has been appointed Vicar of Dudding-
ton, Northamptonshire. He was educated
at the Royal Normal College, Upper Norwood,
and took his degree at Oxford. He is 37 years
of age, is married and has two boys. The
living has two churches, one at Duddington
and the other at Tixover.
BEACON
ANNOUNOMINTS
MUSIC.
The prices of the following pieces of music are subject
to a reduction of three-quarters for the blind resident
in the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
The minimum price is 6d. per copy.
ORGAN— s. d.
10.861 Handel. The Dead March in Saul (arr.
by W. T. Best) 2 0
10.862 Hcnselt. Repos d'Amour (arr. by
Edwin H. Lema.re) ... ... ... 2 0
10.863 Whitlock, P. W. Five Short Pieces ... 2 8
PIANO—
10.864 Beethoven Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101
(Macpherson's Edition) ... ... 6 0
10.865 Carroll, Walter (arr. by). First Lessons
in Bach, Book 1 3 0
Chopin. Studies (Klindworth Edition)—
10.866 Op. 10, Nos. 1-6 6 0
10.867 Op. 10, Nos. 7-12 6 8
10.868 Op. 25, Nos. 1-6 7 4
10,860 Op. 25, Nos. 7-12 7 4
10,870 Demuth, N. F. A Graceful Waltz ... 2 0
10,971 Finck, Herman. Vive la Danse (Petite
Suite de Ballet) 2 0
10.872 Nilssen, E. Dainty Lady (Danse
Piquante) ... ... ... ... 2 0
10.873 Wright, K. A. Columbine's Dream
Dance ... ... ... ... 2 0
DANCE -
10.874 Blake, E. Memories of You (from " On
with the Show "), Song Fox-Trot ... 2 0
10.875 Fogarty, P. and Vallee, R. Betty
Co-ed, Song Fox-Trot ... ... 2 0
10.876 Lindemann, VV. Drink, Brothers,
Drink! Song-Waltz 2 0
10.877 Young, J. I'm alone because I love
You, Song-Waltz ... ... ... 2 0
SONGS-
10.878 Haydn. The Mermaid's Song (Unison
Song) ... ... ... ... ... 2 0
10.879 Hely-Hutchinson. The Twa Corbies,
G; D-E1 2 0
10.880 Quilter. Go, Lovely Rose, F ; E— F1 2 0
10.881 Sanderson, W. Nightingale of June.
(Waltz-Song), E flat ; D— A1 ... 2 0
10.882 Tschaikowsky. Over the Meadows of
Heaven, E ; E— G1 2 0
10.883 Warlock. In an Arbour Green, G ;
D— G1 2 0
BRAILLE BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per vol.
10,538-10,542 Barabbas, by Marie Corelli, 5. d.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 5 vols. F.297 ... 6 0
10,492 Barrack Room Ballads, and Other
Verses, by Rudyard Kipling. Grade
2, Large size, Interpointed, Cloth
Boards. G.71 8 9
10,128 " Beattock for Moffat," " A Fisherman,"
" The Impenitant Thief," " The
Evolution of a Village," and " Castles
in the Air " from " Success and
Other Sketches," by R. B. Cunning-
hame Graham. Grade 2, Pocket size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers. D.30 3 3
10,275-10,277 Blind Corner, by Dornford Yates.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 3 vols. F.157 ... 5 3
per vol.
10,354-10,357 Dickens : A Portrait in Pencil, s. d.
by Ralph Straus. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers,
4 vols. F.238 6 0
10,278-10,284 Evan Harrington, by George
Meredith. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 7 vols.
F.405 5 9
10,368-10,369 Family at Misrule, The, by Ethel
Turner. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 2 vols. F.12"> 6 3
10,374-10,376 Good Naturcd Lady, The, by
J. E. Buckrose. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 3 vols.
F.170 5 9
10,453-10,456 Greene Murder Case, The, by
S. S. Van Dine. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 4 vols.
F.233 5 3
10,407-10,410 Gyfford of Weare, by Jeffery
Farnol. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 4 vols. F.242 6 0
10,358-10,363 My Brother Jonathan, by Francis
Brett Young. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 6 vols.
F.348 5 9
10,370-10,373 Ovingdean Grange, by Harrison
Ainsworth. Grade 2, Largesize, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 3 vols. F. 258 6 3
10,045 Prevention of Blindness, The, by George
Foggin, B.A. Grade 2, Pocket size,
Interpointed, Pamphlet. C.12 ... 1 3
10,717-10,720 Pupil's Class-Book of Arithmetic,
The, Book VI, by E. J. S. Ley.
Grade 2, Intermediate size, Inter-
pointed, Stiff Covers, 4 vols. B.243 6 6
10,450-10,452 Rasp, The, by Philip Macdonald.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 3 vols. F.170 ... 5 9
10,411-10,413 Substitute Millionaire, The, by
Hulbert Footner. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers, 3
vols. F.184 6 0
10.125 " Success," " The Gualichu Tree," and
" Los Seguidores " (from " Success
and Other Sketches ") by R. B.
Cunninghame Graham. Grade 2,
Pocket size, Interpointed, Paper
Covers. D.24 2 9
10,127 " Sursum Corda," "The Pyramid,"
" Terror," " Postponed," and " Lon-
don " (from " Success and Other
Sketches ") by R. B. Cunninghame
Graham. Grade 2, Pocket size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers. D.27 ... 3 0
10.126 " Un Infeliz," " From the Mouth of the
Sahara," " At Utrera," and " Might,
Majesty and Dominion " (from " Suc-
cess and Other Sketches ") by R. B.
Cunninghame Graham. Grade 2,
Pocket size, Interpointed, Paper
Covers. D.24 ... ... ... 2 9
MOON BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per vol.
3,078—3,081 Under the White Cockade, by s. d.
Halliwell Sutcliffe. 4 vols. (Limited
Edition) 12 0
NATIONAL INSTITUTE STUDENTS' LIBRARY.
ADDITIONS.
BIOGRAPHY. Vols.
Saunderson, Robert ; by Izaak Walton ... 1
Wolsey ; by Hilaire Belloc ... ... ... 4
PAGE
179
BEACON
per vol.
CLASSICS.
Jerram, C. S. (Ed. by) Anglice Reddenda
(Second Series) ... "... ... 4
ENGLISH LITERATURE.
Ellis, A. Williams ; Anatomy of Poetrv ... 3
Smith, D. Nicholl ; Notes to King Lear ... 2
HISTORY.
Bede, the Venerable ; Ecclesiastical History of
England 6
Marsh, F. B. Founding of the Roman Empire 4
MODERN LANGUAGES.
Voltaire : Candide ... ... ... ... 2
PHILOSOPHY.
Sa.ntayana, G. Scepticism and Animal Faith ... 4
POETRY AND DRAMA.
Oxford Book of Mystical Verse ... ... ... 6
Steele, R. Conscious Lovers ... ... ... 1
SOCIAL SCIENCE.
Bradley, R. N. Racial Origins of English
Character ... ... ... ... ... 2
Redwood, H. God in the Slums ... ... 2
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND.
ADDITIONS— JUNE, 1931.
FICTION. I
Allingham, Margery. Mystery Mile
*Arnim, Countess von. Expiation
Feval, P. and M. Lassez, Secret of the Bastille
Footner, H. The Viper and other Stories
*Hay, Ian. Poor Gentleman
Jameson, Storm. The Voyage Home
Leslie, Henrietta. Mrs. Fischer's War ...
London, Jack. Martin Eden ...
Masefield, J. The Hawbucks
Millin. S. J. The Jordans
Oppenheim, E. P. Prodigals of Monte Carlo . . .
What Happened to Forrester ...
*Parry, Sir E. A. Berrington, or 200 Years Ago
Phillpotts, Eden. Three Maidens
" Preedy, G." The Rocklitz
Raymond, E. The Family that Was
*Salten, F. Bambi — A Life in the Woods
Sedgwick, A. D. Third Window
Sheppard, A. T. Here comes an Old Sailor ...
Stratton-Porter, G. Her Father's Daughter ...
Wren, P. C. Snake and the Sword
*Wright, S. F. Island of Captain Sparrow
MISCELLANEOUS.
* Addison, Joseph. Essays. Chosen and Edited
by J. R. Green ...
*Belloc, Hilaire. Conversation with an Angel,
and Others Essays
Blatchford, R. Said's Bowl
Bridges, T. C, and H. Hessell Tiltman. Master
Minds of Modern Science
*Brooks, N. Abraham Lincoln and the Downfall
of American Slavery
Cecil, Lord Robert, and the Rev. H. J. Clayton.
Our National Church ...
Gore, Charles. Bishop. Jesus of Nazareth ...
*Hattersby, A. F. Short History of Western Civili-
zation from Earliest Times to the Present Day
Hearnshaw, F. J. C. Development of Political
Ideas
Hodson, Geoffrey. Thus have I Heard
*Home, Health and Gardens, by various authors
Macaulay, Rose. A Casual Commentary
Marchant, Sir J. (Editor). life after Death
According to Christianity and Spiritualism ...
Martin, Rev. G. " Little Way " of Spiritual
Childhood
Murray, Professor Gilbert. Ordeal of this
Generation. (Halley Steward Lectures for
1928)
O'Rahilly, A. Father William Doyle, S.J.
Portigliotti, G. (Translator B. Miall). Some
Fascinating Women of the Renaissance.
(E. W. Austin Memorial) 3
Powers of Attorney. (Manual on the Law and
Practice). Issued by the Council of the Chart-
ered Institute of Secretaries. (E. W. Austin
Memorial) ... ...' ... ... ... 2
Shaw, G. Bernard. The Apple Cart : a Play ... 2
Stenton, Doris M. William the Conqueror ... 2
*Strachey, L. Eminent Victorians, Cardinal
Manning, Florence Nightingale, Dr. Arnold,
General Gordon ... ... ... ... ... 3
Street, C. J. C. President Masaryk ... ... 4
Yeats-Brown, Major F. Bengal Lancer ... 4
WELSH.
*Davies, T. Tir y Dyneddon. Juvenile ... 1
*Farren, Lady. Frisky Tales ... ... ... 1
*Produced by the National Institute for the Blind.
GIFTS TO PUPILS.
Superintendents and Head Teachers of Schools in
England and Wales, who have pupils who will complete
their training in the Summer Term and whom they can
recommend for a gift from the Henry Stainsby Memorial
Fund, should send without delay for a form of application
to the Secretary-General of the National Institute for
the Blind. Gifts take the form of watches, Braille
typewriters, apparatus and Braille books.
ADVERTISEMENTS
Fully qualified HOME TEACHER, with varied
experience at home and abroad, requires post in
September. Excellent testimonials. Write E. H.,
c/o Editor, The Nf.w Beacon.
WANTED.— HOME TEACHER for Warwickshire
Association for the Blind. Must hold Home Teachers
Certificate, and be able to drive a car. Apply giving
age, experience and when certificate was obtained to
Mrs. Heber-Percy, Hon. Secretary, Guy's Cliffe,
Warwick.
SUNNI HOLME.— Boston and Holland Blind Society
have several vacancies for blind women, as their Home
has recently been extended. Applications are invited
on behalf of suitable blind persons desiring companion-
ship, comfort and a pleasant home. The Secretary,
Boston and Holland Blind Society, 25, Pen Street,
Boston, will be pleased to supply details.
COUNTY BOROUGH OF SOUTHPORT.
Applications are invited for the post of Lady Home
Teacher (Sighted) to take charge of, and administer
the Council's Scheme for the Welfare of the Blind.
Applicants must be Certified Home Teachers with
Administrative and General Experience of Blind
Welfare Work.
A knowledge of the working of Knitting Machines
would be an additional qualification.
Commencing Salary £182 per annum.
The position is an established post under the Local
Government and Other Officers Superannuation Act,
1922, and the person appointed will be required to
pass a Medical Examination and contribute to the
Superannuation Fund.
Applications giving detailed particulars of experience,
age, with copies of three recent testimonials, and
endorsed "Home Teacher" should be addressed to
me not later than Monday, 27th lulv, 1931.
R. EDGAR" PERRINS,
Town Hall, Town Clerk.
Southport.
PrinUd by Smiths' Printing Company (London & St. Albans), Ltd., M-24, Fetter Lane, London, E.C.4.
^^MicZNcw
BEACON
A MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF THE BLIND
Vol. XV.-No. 176. AUGUST I 5th, 1931. Price 3d.
3S. PER ANNUM, POST FREE.
Entered as Second Class Matter, March 15, 1929, at the Post Office at Boston, Mass., under the Act of Match 3, 1879 {Sec. 397, P.L. and R.)
THE EFFECT OF THE LOCAL
GOVERNMENT ACT, 1929.
By S. W. STARLING,
General Superintendent and Secretary, The Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind.
OVER a year has elapsed since the Local Government Act, 1929, became operative,
and this gives a sufficiently long period over which to review the effect this
i Statute has had on the relation of Local Authorities to Voluntary Societies,
I and on Blind Welfare Work generally.
f To assist in this survey it is necessary to refer to the Blind Persons Act,
1920, and trace how Governmental aid has assisted in the development of
work for the Blind.
Section 2 (1) of this Act provides that it shall be the duty of every Local Authority to make
arrangements to the satisfaction of the Ministry of Health for promoting the welfare of blind
persons within their area, and may provide and maintain or contribute towards the provision
and maintenance of Workshops, Hostels, Homes or other places for the reception of blind persons
within or without their area. Where these services have been delegated to Voluntary Agencies the
Local Authorities shall pay annually to the Voluntary Agencies concerned for the three years
ending March 31st, 1933, such sum as is stated in the Schedule to the Scheme made by the
Ministry of Health under Section 102 (1) of the Local Government Act, 1929.
The figures shown in the schedule to the Scheme were calculated on the basis of the amount
of grant paid by the Ministry of Health to each Voluntary Agency together with the contributions
paid by the Local Authorities for the year ended March 31st, 1929. The Scheme further states
that the contribution shall be the minimum sum payable by Local Authorities to Voluntary
Agencies unless a change in circumstances justifies a reduction in the amount payable, which
cannot be effective without the approval of the Ministry of Health. Paragraph 5 of Circular
1 ,086 of the Ministry of Health also provides that apart from the scheme it will be open to the
Council under Section 2 of the Blind Persons Act 1920, to make contributions to Voluntary
Associations for the Blind in excess of those set out in the Schedules to the Scheme.
The spirit of the Scheme, then, is to urge Local Authorities to pay a greater contribution
where increased service to the blind justifies it. In other words, Local Authorities are at liberty
to approve any extension of Blind Welfare
Work in their area and to contribute towards
its cost such extra sum as they think expedient
to enable the work to be efficiently accom-
plished. This is important because the period
taken by the Ministry of Health as that on
which to calculate the amounts payable by
Local Authorities to Voluntary Agencies was
one in which a limited liability had been
undertaken by many Local Authorities, due
partly to the comparatively small service
rendered to the Blind in those areas, and
partly because these Authorities had either
taken little or no interest in Blind Welfare
Work or were not disposed to assist the
Voluntary Agency financially to any appreci-
able extent.
The change occasioned by the payment of
Government grants to Local Authorities
instead of to Voluntary Societies direct, also
resulted in a change of practice in Govern-
ment inspection. As from April ist, 1930,
direct inspection of Voluntary Agencies by
H.M. Inspectors of the Ministry of Health
ceased in favour of what the Ministry intended
should be a system of supervision of the work
of these Agencies by the Local Authorities.
The effect of this change in policy has been
two-fold. In some areas the result has been
a greater desire on the part of Local Authori-
ties to do more for the blind in those areas
and to extend that part of the service for
which little provision had formerly been made.
In consequence greater financial help has been
forthcoming to assist Voluntary Agencies in
their work. In some areas a contribution is
made to the Agency concerned for the purpose
of providing the Unemployable Blind with an
income from all sources of 27s. 6d. per week,
while in other districts a smaller income is
assured. A guarantee to Workshops for the
Blind and Home Workers' Schemes for any
loss incurred in employing the Blind has also
been undertaken by some Local Authorities
as well as the payment in full of Augmentation
of earnings on an approved scale.
On the other hand, backward Local
Authorities are not inclined to make any
contributions to Voluntary Agencies in excess
of that stated in the Scheme, to provide for
any extension of service, and as the Scheme
under the Local Government Act makes no
provision of a compulsory nature to provide
for expansion, the result is that the tide of
progress is stemmed and the status of the
Blind for whom these Local Authorities are
PAGE
182
BEACON
responsible is kept at a low level. Others,
while agreeing in principle to the extension of
blind services, have not accepted their share
of the cost. This state of affairs is to be
deplored, especially as Local Authorities can
avail themselves of new money from the
Ministry of Health which is intended to
provide for the normal extension of Health
services which also includes the work for the
Blind. The provision of the Local Govern-
ment Act which withdrew Government
inspection of Voluntary Agencies extends the
responsibility of Local Authorities in Blind
Welfare Work. This is beneficial from all
points of view as it tends to make Local
Authorities take a direct interest in this work
and regard it as a serious part of their Health
services. Concerning inspection , the Ministry
of Health requires that Local Authorities shall
satisfy themselves as to the efficiency of the
services provided by the Association for the
Welfare of the Blind in respect of which the
contribution is paid. Accordingly, any
arrangement entered into which fulfils this
object complies with the Ministry's require-
ments.
The withdrawal of direct inspection of
blind services by one body is very much
regretted. The influence of that body
however still remains and can and should be
made full use of. With conscientious super-
vision on the part of Local Authorities,
coupled with the periodical inspection afforded
by the Ministry of Health, satisfactory
supervision should subsist. The fact that the
Ministry of Health can be called upon by
Local Authorities for help and guidance is a
matter which has been lost sight of and is one,
therefore, which needs emphasis.
If we review the trend of events with
regard to supervision we find that some Local
Authorities have made arrangements for
regional inspection and have agreed to the
appointment of a Supervisor of Blind Welfare
Work to act in a joint capacity for a group of
Authorities : others have appointed one of
their staff to act as a Liason Officer between
the Voluntary Agency and themselves, while
in some areas it is doubtful whether any form
of Local Authority inspection exists.
The varying methods of supervising the
work of Voluntary Agencies adopted by Local
Authorities throughout the country will no
doubt be examined and receive the careful
consideration of the Ministry's Inspectors
when their inspection of Local Authorities
BEACON
takes place during the first three years of this
new Scheme. It will be interesting to learn
the views of the Ministry on this matter.
Another important effect of the Local
Government Act on Blind Welfare Work is
the Municipalisation of certain of the Volun-
tary Agencies, thus depriving them entirely of
their voluntary nature and making them part
of the Municipal machinery. It is too early
to indicate the result of this action other than
to mention that the Local Authorities con-
cerned in adopting this course have accepted
the fullest financial responsibility for the care
of the Blind in their area.
THE PREVENTION OF BLINDNESS IN
INDIA.
By M. G. THOMAS.
THE Report of the All-India
Blind Relief Association for
1930 has recently been
published, and is a docu-
ment so important as to
merit a rather more de-
tailed notice than that
usually given to Annual Reports. It is the
story of a gallant effort against terribly heavy
odds, of an effort that began rather less than
twenty years ago against an age-old and
firmly established enemy, and though little
has so far been achieved in comparison with
the magnitude of the task that little is full of
promise.
Investigations made over wide areas in
India have shown that there are about one
and a half million totally blind persons in that
country, and about four and a half millions
partially blind. It is a terrible figure ; so
terrible that it might paralyse effort, were it
not for the further fact that by far the greater
part of the blindness (some authorities would
put it as high as 90 per cent.) is preventible.
It was the recognition of this appalling
amount of preventible blindness that made an
appeal in 1913 to Mr. C. G. Henderson, at
that time an Indian Civil servant, and the
founder of the All-India Blind Relief Associ-
ation. He had no medical training, but even
as a layman he could not help being horrified
at the number of blind persons whom he
encountered in his work, and he asked himself
if something could not be done. He learned
to diagnose various affections of the eye, and
made arrangements with the headman of every
village in his district to compile a list of blind
and partially blind persons in the area, and
to gather these people together on the occa-
sion of his own periodical visits to each
village ; he then arranged for them to be sent
to hospitals or dispensaries whenever this
could be achieved. Further he offered a
reward of one rupee to native midwives for
each case of infantile ophthalmia which they
notified immediately, and in this way several
cases received early preventive treatment.
In the course of his Government work Mr.
Henderson was transferred to various districts
between 1913 and 1919, and in each area he
did work on the same lines, seeking out cases
of blindness, and trying to bring treatment to
the very door of the people. His general aim
was fourfold : —
1. The prevention of ophthalmia neona-
torum.
2. The systematic search for all cases of eye
disease.
3. The establishment of ophthalmic
hospitals and small dispensaries.
4. The immediate notification of small-pox
and measles.
Those readers of The New Beacon who
read an article on the prevention of blindness
in Egypt in our February issue may remember
that an ophthalmic service was set up in that
country through the generosity of Sir Ernest
Cassel in 1902, and later generously financed
by the British Red Cross. That service aimed
at bringing treatment direct to the patient in
rural areas by the setting up of temporary
eye-hospitals, on the lines of an experiment
that had proved very successful in Russia.
An English oculist was appointed as Director
of the work and a travelling hospital was
provided, consisting of tents for operative and
out-patient treatment ; the hospital usually
remained a few months in one place, treating
all the patients who came to it from the sur-
rounding country. By 1927, there were 26
permanent, and 13 travelling hospitals in
Egypt, which in one year alone treated 350,000
patients.
The population of Egypt is fourteen
.83
BEACON
millions and that of India three hundred and
twenty millions, of whom by far the greater
number live in rural areas. The problem
then in India, as in Egypt, is primarily a
rural one. The people are living in hamlets
and villages, their " homes " are often only
the most squalid huts of straw and mud, with
little or no ventilation, dark with smoke from
the fires of cow-dung, and shared, as a
photograph in the Blind Relief Association
Report shows, only too often, by human beings
and animals. " The climate and the condi-
tions under which this poverty stricken
population live favour the spread of eye-
disease, which if not properly taken in hand,
leads to partial and complete blindness."
To obtain for India, with its far greater
population, a service at all comparable to that
in Egypt is therefore a gigantic task, and one
which private effort and philanthropy cannot
be expected to compass. But in every field
of social service, the trail is first blazed by
voluntary effort, and it is only when experi-
ments have proved to be on right lines that
Government help is forthcoming and official
recognition afforded. It is this recognition to
which the All India Blind Relief Association
looks forward.
Profiting by a study of the Egyptian
experiment, the Association has employed two
methods : —
i . Village field workers are engaged to work
in thickly populated rural areas, in conjunc-
tion with a central hospital. These field-
workers are Indians, who are given three
months training in an ophthalmic hospital, in
order that they may learn to detect cases of
eye-trouble, and are required to pass a simple
written and oral examination, set by a civil
surgeon. They are then given their area, and
take up their residence in a central village,
from which they visit the outlying villages of
their district, keeping a register of the blind
and partially blind, of persons requiring
operation or simple treatment (each field
worker is given a first-aid outfit for the
treatment of quite simple eye-ailments) of
newly-born children, and of small-pox and
measles cases. The field worker is expected
to give treatment in cases of infantile ophthal-
mia, small-pox, and measles, his work being
supervised by a travelling surgeon.
2. Where a scattered population, bad roads,
and limited means of transport, make it
difficult for a field-worker to carry on suc-
cessfully, travelling hospitals are made use of ;
the people in the district are notified that a
travelling hospital is coming, and will be
encamped for a certain time within their
reach. By its means a wide and scattered
area can be helped, which without it would
remain isolated from medical aid.
Perhaps a short account of a camp visit
lasting ten days, and held just a year ago, will
give some idea of the work. The camp was
held at Gulbarga in Hyderabad, and at first
created little stir, very few patients presenting
themselves ; but as news of the camp spread,
interest grew, and in all over 400 cases were
dealt with. Small-pox, trachoma, cataract,
and glaucoma were among those in evidence,
and " in practically every case of glaucoma
branding with a hot iron had been resorted to
as a counter-irritant to what must have been
intolerable pain . . . centuries of neglect of
his physical welfare seem to have ingrained in
the villager a stoicism that has to be seen to
be believed." It is indeed a tragic story.
The later pages of the Blind Relief Associ-
ation's Report are devoted to an appendix
giving details of a questionnaire sent to a large
number of hospitals on the subject of blind-
ness. It is impossible here to do more than
quote a few extracts from it : —
" This is the only hospital," writes a
doctor in Bihar, " where eye operations are
performed, in an area with a population of
somewhere between one and two millions."
" If it were possible to visit every village in
the area for eye diseases alone, and the
confidence of the people were gained, one
would be swamped with work . . . with
common sense and simple care many of the
tragic results that we see as sequels to eye
disease would be obviated," is a report from
Bombay Presidency. " Eye affection during
this time " (in the first six months of infancy)
" is generally treated by every granny or
barber midwife that comes across," is the
statement of a Madras doctor. " Practically
all these cases could be prevented by propa-
gation of cleanliness," runs another comment
from Rajputana.
Those who heard Mr. Rau of Mysore
speak at the annual meeting of the College of
Teachers could not have failed to be impressed
as he pleaded for the help and sympathy of
his hearers in the task of blindness-prevention
in India. Those who, having heard him, now
study the Report of the All-India Blind
Relief Association, will get a fresh sense of the
vastness of the work to be done.
BEACON
HOME NEWS
White Sticks and Umbrellas in Manchester.
At a meeting last month of the Safety First Group for the Blind in the Blind Aid
Society's rooms, Manchester, a resolution was unanimously passed advising all blind
people to carry a white stick, or, in the case of women, a white umbrella. Councillor
Barlow presided over the meeting which was attended by blind and partially blind people
from Manchester and Salford. Thanks were accorded to the Chief Constables of
Manchester and Salford and to the police of the cities for their recognition of the signal.
National Institute and the World Conference.
The Executive Council of the National Institute for the Blind, at its last meeting,
expressed its deep sense of obligation to the American Foundation for the Blind, for
organising the World Conference on the Blind, and enabling delegates from all over the
world to make the journey to New York.
It also warmly welcomed the establishment of the World Council for the Blind,
expressed its desire to co-operate wholeheartedly in the Council's work, and recorded its
appreciation of the generous financial support given by Mr. William Nelson Cromwell
and Mr. M. C. Migel.
Appeal for the Blind on Government Forms.
Following is an extract from " Hansard," July 9th, 193 1 : —
Commander Southby asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason it has
been decided to discontinue the use of Government forms for advertisement purposes ;
and upon what date was that decision arrived at ?
Mr. Pethick-Lawrence : The decision was reached in July, 1929. The appearance
of private advertisements on Government forms proved a constant source of complaint ;
the revenue obtained therefrom was not large and the Government decided to put an
end to the practice.
Commander Southby : Will the Hon. Gentleman make an exception in the case of
the blind, who got considerable revenue from these advertisements ?
Mr. Pethick-Laivrence : The matter was fully considered, and I do not think it
likely that the Government would re-open it now ; but I will look into the Hon. and
gallant Member's point.
Commander Southby : Will the Hon. Gentleman receive a deputation ?
Memorial Tablets Unveiled at Royal Normal College.
The annual prize festival of the Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for
the Blind, Upper Norwood, was held last month, when there was a large attendance of
patrons and others interested in the welfare of the institution. A programme of music
carried out by the students was preceded by the unveiling of three memorial tablets by
Mr. Josiah Beddow, the oldest member of the Board of Governors. These were : — (1)
In appreciation of the financial aid of the Gardner's Trust for the opening of a Kinder-
garten and Preparatory Department in 1882, and for their support in continuing to grant
the valuable scholarships first given in 1881 ; (2) in grateful memory of Sir Francis
Joseph Campbell, the first principal, and of his son, Mr. Guy Marshall Campbell, who
died in 1929 ; and (3) to record the sincere thanks of the Board of Governors of the
College to the Carnegie Trustees for their financial assistance afforded in 1918 and 1922.
Sir Bernard Mallet presided at the prize distribution and the awards were presented
by Miss. Sybil Legh. Both had undertaken their tasks at very short notice, owing to
the fact that Lt.-Col. C. P. Crane, Chairman of the Committee of Trustees, and Mrs.
Crane had been unable to be present.
The Chairman, Lord Lamington, said that there were between 700 and 800 former
pupils of the college who were earning their own living ; most of them were engaged in
connection with music — as organists or as teachers — because music appeared to be the
particular prerogative of the blind. He appealed for more funds for the great work
that was being done at the college.
PAGE
185
BEACON
RECONSTITUTION OF
NATIONAL INSTITUTE COUNCIL.
UNDER its reconstitution,
the Executive Council of
the National Institute for
the Blind will consist of
62 members, representing
five groups. Below we
give particulars of the
groups and the names of the members already
elected or nominated. An asterisk indicates
those members who are blind.
Group A. Persons elected by Counties Associ-
ations for the Blind . . . . . . 9
Each Counties Association to elect one
representative, except the South Eastern and
London Counties and the Northern Counties
Associations which shall each have two
representatives in view of the large blind
population of their areas.
Elected : —
Councillor J. W. Flanagan ; Councillor
G. Oliver ; Northern Counties Association
Major S. C. Welchman ; Western Counties
Associatio?i.
*Canon C. E. Bolam ; Eastern Counties
Association.
Mr. W. Bateman ; North-Western Counties
Association.
Mr. B.J. Evans ; S. Wales and Monmouth-
shire Association.
Miss J. Merivale ; Midland Counties
Association.
Mr. Harvey Plant ; Mr. John B. Heaton ;
South Eastern and London Counties
Association.
Group B. Persons elected by the follozving
bodies : —
National Library for the Blind . . . . 2
Elected : Mrs. Danckwerts.
Mr. W. H. Brown.
St. Dunstans . . . . . . . . 1
Elected : * Captain Ian Fraser.
Union of Associations . . . . . . 2
Elected : Mrs. Knapp.
The Rev. H. Every.
College of Teachers of the Blind . . 2
Elected : Miss M. M. R. Garaway.
Dr. J. M. Ritchie.
Association of Workshops for the Blind . . 2
Elected : Mr. S. W. Starling.
Major H. Willans.
Gardner's Trust for the Blind . . . . 1
■Elected: Lt. - Col. E. C. Clay.
The Clothworkers' Company . . . . 1
Ejected : Dr. P. M. Evans.
Organisations of the Blind . . . . 6
Elected : *Dr. Ernest Whitfield ; * Mr.
Herbert Royston ; National
Union of Professional and Indus-
trial Blind.
*Mr. H. M. Whitfield ; Associa-
tion of Certificated Blind
Masseurs.
*Mr. E. S. Woodley ; Worcester
College Old Boys Association.
*Mr. R. T. Stephenson ; Royal
Normal College Old Students'
Guild.
*Mr. W. G. T. Pemberton ; St.
Dunstans.
Group C. Persons elected by Local Govern-
ment Associations
County Councils Association . . . . 3
Elected : Mr. E. W. Cemlyn-Jones.
Mr. D. Hardaker.
Dr. J. Middleton Martin.
Association of Municipal Corporations . . 3
Elected : Mr. T. Holt.
Dr. J. Graham.
Councillor Lee.
Association of Education Committees . . 1
(Name of Representative to come.)
Association of Directors and Secretaries for
Education . . . . . . . . 1
Elected : Mr. A. W. Allen.
Group D. National Members . . . . 24
Persons interested in national work for
the blind, to be elected as vacancies occur
by the remaining members of the group. So
far as is reasonably possible not less than
one-third shall be blind.
Elected : Miss Alice S. Armitage.
Mr. J. H. Batty.
Mr. Ormond A. Blyth.
Mr. J. J. Crosfield.
*Dr. E. G. Dowdell.
Mr. W. H. Eastman.
Dr. A. Eichholz.
Dr. James Graham.
Mr. Godfrey H. Hamilton.
Mr. R. Hughes-Buller.
PAGE
186
BEACON
Alderman W. W. Kelland.
Mr. A. J. W. Kitchin.
The Rt. Hon. C. A. McCurdy.
*Mr. W. Percy Merrick.
*Mr. G. F. Mowatt.
Sir Michael O'Dwyer
*Miss Jean Robinson.
Mr. Walter S. Talbot.
Mr. W. H. Tate.
*Captain Sir Beachcroft Towse.
*Mr. T. H. Tylor.
Mr. Henry J. Wagg.
Nominated : *Lord Sanderson of Hunman-
*Captain V. M. Deane. [by.
The Council, as constituted above, will
have power to co-opt a further group.
Group E. Members of governing bodies of
(i) Workshops or Institutions for the Blind, or
(it) other voluntary organisations concerned
with the blind . . . . . . . . 4
Mr. Henry J. Wagg and Dr. J. Graham,
elected as representatives of Group D, have
been nominated or elected in other Groups,
and two vacancies in Group D are thereby
created.
Blind Pianist's Recital.
Miss Mary Munn, a blind Canadian from
Montreal, gave a successful pianoforte recital
at the Grotrian Hall last month. Her
programme was varied, ancient and modern,
from Bach to Medtner.
Incorporated Association for Promoting the
General Welfare of the Blind.
The Annual Report for 1930/31 is a cheerful
one, in spite of world-depression, and its
inevitable effect on trade and philanthropy.
The capital position of the Association has
been improved by legacies amounting to
£7,200, continuous employment has been
provided for all workers in all departments
throughout the year, and the wages bill of the
Institution has increased by more than £600
on the previous year ; overhead charges have
been reduced by over £1,000, and £12,000
has been raised from the public at a cost of
under 19 per cent., a large proportion of which
was paid to blind persons. An interesting
step has lately been taken by the appointment
of a Welfare Worker, and the experiment
promises to be most successful.
PERSONALIA
Scottish Advisory Committee.
The Department of Health for Scotland
have reappointed the Scottish Advisory
Committee on the Welfare of the Blind for a
further term of office to advise them on
matters relating to the care and supervision of
the blind, including any questions which may
be specially referred to them by the Depart-
ment. The Committee, which is representa-
tive of the interests of the Local Authorities
under the Blind Persons Act, of Institutions
and Societies for the Blind, and of the blind
themselves, is as follows : —
Sir William Reid, D.L., J.P. (Chairman) ;
Rev. Thomas Burns, C.B.E., T.D., D.D.,
J. P., F.R.S.E. (Vice-Chairman) ; Mr. James
Balfour ; Mr. Ian Carmichael ; Mr. William
Edgar ; Mr. William R. Halliday ; Mr.
Charles G. Lothian ; Mr. W. H. Blyth
Martin, D.L. ; Mr. Alex. Morrison ; Mr.
George Mackay, M.D., F.R.C.S.E. ; Council-
lor Mrs. McLean ; Mr. Adair Robb ;
Ex-Provost James Ross ; Ex-Bailie J. M.
Rusk, S.S.C. ; Mr. Mackenzie S. Shaw, W.S.;
Mr. W. M. Stone, F.E.I.S. ; Mr. Bertram
Talbot.
Mr. G. Hawley of the Department of
Health for Scotland will act as Secretary.
Home for Retarded Blind Children.
In connection with the Home for Retarded
Blind Children at Abbotskerswell, South
Devon, the National Institute for the Blind
has made the following staff appointments : —
Head Master : Charles Edward Spurgeon.
(Late of Swiss Cottage.)
Senior Mistress : Miss M. McConnochie.
(Late of School for the Blind, Westbury-
on-Trym, Bristol.)
Matron : Miss M. M. Davis. (Late of
School for the Blind, Westbury-on-Trym,
Bristol.)
New Members of National Institute Sub-
Committees.
Revenue : Mr. William Harrison.
Homes : Miss K. Oliver, the Rev. T. Everard
Healey, Mr. G. W. Winterbottom.
Publications : Mr. R. Peppitt, E.inden Lodge
School for the Blind (as deputy to Miss
Garaway, representing the College of
Teachers of the Blind).
PAGE
187
BEACON
WHEN LONDON HAD SORE EYES.
Roman Trade Mark Discovered.
By WALTER G. BELL.
(Reprinted by kind permission of the " Daily Telegraph.")
IONG ago, in Roman London, there
practised a certain Caius Silvius
Tetricus, who sold to all needing
them medicines to relieve troubles
of the eyes.
. His stamp, with which he
gg marked the remedies with his
own name and their purpose, has just been
turned out of the soil near London Bridge,
at a depth of 15 ft. below the surface.
This most interesting relic is illustrated
below.
It is a little slab of greenish, slate-like stone,
two inches square and three-eights of an inch
in thickness. On each of its four edges is an
inscription of two lines, deeply engraved in
retrograde, in well-formed capital letters. Its
recovery and identification is due to Mr.
Quintin Waddington, assistant curator of the
Guildhall Museum, who maintains a constant
watch on all City excavations.
Caius made up his preparations, as did
other oculists of his day, into little solid sticks
— not unlike shortened sticks of sealing-wax —
and, before these dried, impressed them with
his stamp, the legend going right round. For
use, pieces were broken off and beaten in a
mortar into an ointment with oil, honey, or
butter.
Each of the four faces of the stamp served
for a different medicament. Thus three of
them, when translated, read :
Caius Silvius Tetricus's scented un-
guent for granulation of the eyelids."
" Caius Silvius Tetricus's lotion for
inflammation of the eyes."
" Caius Silvius Tetricus's preparation for
removing weals (of the eyeball)."
On the fourth face the letters are imperfect
beyond the name, and the reading is doubtful.
This is the first find in London of the stamp
PAGE
188
of a Roman oculist, though I recorded and
illustrated in The Daily Telegraph of Novem-
ber 12th, 1929, the discovery at Moorgate of
a little pot of red " Samian " ware, itself
stamped with the words, " Lucius Julius
Senlis's saffron salve for roughness of the eyes
or eyelids."
It is known from Latin literature that eye
trouble was prevalent in the Roman provinces.
It has been attributed, probably correctly, to
the immoderate use — in Londinium, as else-
where— of the popular hot-air baths.
Mr. Waddington cannot give a date for this
relic, but " Tetricus " has recalled to him the
Emperor of that name, who in the troubled
period sometimes called that of " The Thirty
Tyrants," ruled very effectively over Gaul and
Britain from a.d. 267 to 274. If this London
practitioner, or perhaps his father, adopted
the name in compliment to the venerated
ruler, that would place him about a.d. 300.
Much credit is due to Mr. Waddington for
puzzling out the inscriptions, and his are the
translations given above. Many a good
Latinist might break his teeth against the
first in the order given, which actually reads :
CSILVITETRICIEVODES
ADASPRITVDINES
Edinburgh Society for Teaching the Adult
Blind.
The 72nd Annual Report of the Society,
for the year 1930/31, states that owing to
increased activities (including the establish-
ment of a Clinic for the examination of all
persons anxious to be placed on the Society's
Register) larger premises have had to be
acquired. In these new premises it has been
possible to set aside a room for blind persons
wishing to read or study undisturbed, and a
Club for women has been opened.
Errata.
In the May issue of The New Beacon, the
letter on " The Needs of the Deaf-Blind,"
signed " G. B. Hamilton," should have borne
the signature " G. B. Middleton."
In the obituary notices in the July issue of
The New Beacon, " Mr. Walter King "
should read " Mr. Walker King."
BEACON
WILLIAM WOLSTENHOLME, 1865-1931.
THE death of William Wol-
stenholme has robbed the
community of the blind of
one of its outstanding
figures. The whole musical
world is bereft of a player
with marvellous gifts, and a
composer of striking originality.
As a player he was great, as a composer he
was unique. His playing both on organ and
piano had a curious quality which was at once
highly nerved and yet restrained, broad in
conception yet exquisitely intimate, impulsive
and enthusiastic yet controlled. Brain and
hand were so much in sympathy that a rare
independence was the result, which left him
free to follow his inspiration unswervingly.
At the age of six he would play on a piano
with one hand and on a harmonium with the
other. This was the more wonderful as the
instruments were not in tune, so that one
hand had to transpose to be in the same key as
the other. This is surely a prodigious mental
feat quite apart from musicianship ; and this
was the key-note of the whole of his playing,
that there was sheer brain behind every note
of it.
He could weld three or four melodies
together in superb and intricate technique
which yet remained perfectly easy for the
most untrained listener to follow.
Behind all this great intellect was a spirit of
joy and love of life, and something very
personal and individual, which characterised
all his playing. When he played in public it
was thrilling, but when he played in private
to a few friends with whom he was in perfect
sympathy, it was an unforgettable delight.
It is as a composer that he occupies a very
special place. Without employing any of the
devices of " modern " music, his music was
yet distinctly original. Indeed, when he
consciously adopted the 20th century style
he was almost less himself than in his very
earliest works. Just as in the case of Grieg,
so there is a definite Wolstenholme style
which anyone can recognise. It influences
other composers, and is reflected in their
work. It would be possible to write a piece
" a la Wolstenholme." In fact, his style is one
of the most individual things in all English
music.
His harmony, too, often has a very special
atmosphere as in his songs, and especially in
the piano piece " Noel " (N.I.B. edition).
He had a great sense of humour, and a
keen wit, and these qualities, together with a
certain whimsical impishness found their way
into some of his music, especially his improvis-
ations.
The Bohemesque in G for organ (N.I.B.
edition) is especially interesting because in it
we find his melodic originality, his most
characteristic harmonic treatment, and also a
boundless joy, great vitality, playfulness and
every kind of fun — in fact the piece is an
impulse of sheer joy which is absolutely
Wolstenholme.
Sometimes we find a vein of thoughtful
philosophy in his music, as in the organ
Prelude in C (Novello) and the third move-
ment of the organ Fantasia in E (Novello) and
perhaps most of all in the two sets, Seven Pre-
ludesand Seven Postludesfororgan(Ashdown).
Much of his finest work remains unpub-
lished and it would be a great service to music
if this could be remedied. Certainly the organ
Sonata dedicated to Alfred Hollins and the
Nocture in Eb for violin and piano must be
published.
His improvisations are world famous.
Again they were very much his own and never
degenerated into mere musical small talk.
Sometimes he would extemporise a fugue or
some other perfectly conceived form which
would bear the closest analysis. At other
times he would follow the whim of the
moment in a spontaneous flow of every kind
of musical contrast — a continuous inspiration
which was in itself the very main spring of form.
Wolstenholme was born in Blackburn,
February 24th, 1865. His gifts showed
themselves at a very early age. Educated at
Worcester College for the Blind, he took his
Mus.Bac. at Oxford.
Sir Edward Elgar, Lionel Tertis, Stanley
Hawley and others recognised his genius and
were instrumental in bringing him forward,
and in making his early works known.
From St. Paul's, Blackburn, he came in
1902 to London as organist of the King's
Weigh House, and lived in London ever after,
subsequently occupying the posts of organist
at All Saints', Norfolk Square, and All Saints',
St. John's Wood.
He toured widely as an organ recitalist of
PAGE
189
BEACON
the first rank, in Britain and America. He was
so much appreciated in America that Schmidt
and Co., published many of his compositions,
and there are several gramophone records of
his organ playing. He also made rolls for
organ and piano for a German instrument
which reproduces on organ or piano the
individual rendering of the artist.
Like his music, his whole personality was
unusual and individual ; it would be difficult
to imagine anybody happier than Wolsten-
holme and more difficult still to find an artist
so serenely equable in temperament. Pie had
wider interests than is generally known,
knowing a great deal for instance about Greek
verse, and his songs show a fine taste in
poetry, and a knowledge of many rare and
lesser-known poets. His sheer delight in life
and music, and his affectionate nature, free
from introspection and complexity, made one
know who they are that " enter into the
Kingdom of heaven " even on earth in the
twentieth century. Many kind things are said
of those who have just died, but everything
we say now of Wolstenholme might have been
said during his life. I once heard someone
say that if Wolstenholme could not say
anything good of anyone he said nothing at
all ; but it went deeper than that, for he did
not even think the unkind thing ; that whole
point of view was foreign to his nature. He
was never bored, but the nearest I have ever
seen him come to boredom was when he was
in company of people who were enjoying a
discussion, as humans do, of the faults of
another ; he was quite uninterested.
Wolstenholme had a rare sympathy and
intuition ; his quietness in the presence of
anyone who was not well was not merely the
absence of disturbance, but had in it a
soothing helpfulness. Then how kind he was
to young composers just beginning ! How
jolly he was, making witty puns, and always
ready for his cups of tea ! As a friend said : —
" There zvas a composer called Willum
Who could improvise just fit to killum,
When they said — ' Cup o' tea ? '
' Great idea,' replied he,
And they fill um and fill um and fill urn."
This great dear joyous personality has gone
from us, but he has left to the world music
brim-full of the milk of human kindness, with
sunshine woven into the very stuff of its
being. His intimate friends who loved him
had a privilege and happiness which nothing
can take from them. S. L.
PAGE
190
The Danzic Sweepstake.
Captain Sir Beachcroft Towse, V.C.,
Chairman of the National Institute for the
Blind, in a letter addressed to the Press last
month, with reference to the Sweepstake in
Danzic, organised under the title of " The
World Blind Trust," stated that, as the
National Institute for the Blind had been
referred to in the Press communique issued
by the promoters, he wished to point out that
the Institute knew nothing of the matter and
was not responsible for it in any way.
The Blind of Gibraltar.
The Rev. Canon C. E. Bolam has sent us a
copy of the report of the Inspector to the
Committee of the Gibraltar Blind Society,
indicating the initial steps which are being
taken by the Society which Canon Bolam,
acting for the National Institute for the Blind,
founded in December last.
The present number of persons registered
is 42 of whom 25 are completely and 17 nearly
blind.
Some of these persons have undergone
ophthalmic specialist operation and treatment,
others are under treatment and others wish
to be operated and treated, but this is out of
their scope, due to poverty.
In their general circumstances some are
well looked after and do not require any
pecuniary relief, others are in need of some-
thing, and some are in very poor and needy
circumstances.
Six blind people wish to learn Braille and
Music, and two Braille only.
London Society for Teaching and Training
the Blind.
The Report for 1930/31 traces the way in
which the London Society touches on the life
of the blind from childhood to adult life, and
shows how " each period of life must have its
appropriate measure of assistance." It is
specially interesting to read of the part it plays
in schooldays and to know how, in addition to
mere book-learning, those in charge recognise
the importance of dancing, organised games,
drill, and remedial gymnastics. Visits to the
Science Museum, and the Imperial Institute,
and the many activities connected with
Scouting and Guiding, help to make the
children's lives very normal and happy. As
usual, the Report is fully illustrated with
pictures of pupils at work and play, in the
schoolroom and in the workshop.
cDfmZAfcw
Published by ■/ II. /\ i M \ rV Editorial Offices:
the National f^W ¥~* /— % I I I ^ 224 Great Port-
Institute for WW J \\ j\ /I ^ land Street,
the Blind m^r mL^i m. V__^ v^_^ JL ^ z,on<w w.\.
CONSOLIDATION— National and Regional.
WORK for the blind is still a charity and irrevocably a social service, and
under either aspect its immediate future gives cause for considerable
anxiety. Times are hard. Long established sources of charitable revenue
are bound to dwindle, and the continued expansion of expenditure from
the public purse on social services is certainly about to be checked.
Moreover, the organisation of the Blind World is even now none too
stable. Structural changes in its organisation are still being made. Volun-
taryism stands firm but municipalisation is making strides. Here and there voluntary societies
have succumbed. Others are uncertain about the future. The sincerity of some extremists,
who demand the elimination of voluntaryism everywhere, does not necessarily put them in the
right. But voluntaryism cannot save itself merely by goodwill, however fervent. Financial
support from public funds confers on public authorities the right to supervision and to some
measure of control. The question of the day is how far that control can be asserted without
breaking the charitable impulse, which brings to the blind the personal service and financial
sacrifice of thousands of kindly well-wishers.
That delicate question cannot yet be answered. The Local Government Act has released
some fresh forces, and arrested certain developments. As Mr. Starling points out in the
admirably judicious article printed in this number of The New Beacon, consciousness of local
responsibility has made some local authorities more sensitive to the needs of the blind, while
elsewhere authorities which were backward are backward still. Unevenness of development is
a fault which local societies acting in isolation are powerless to correct, and particular importance
attaches therefore to any attempts made by national or regional agencies to reconstitute or
reconstruct themselves in order to grapple with their present-day task on modern lines.
The Northern Counties Association has faced the problem of co-operation between volun-
taryism and local authorities boldly and with decision. It now comprises 44 out of 46 local
authorities in its area, and 46 voluntary societies. Of the 46 local authorities 37 have accepted
the services of its Regional Supervisor, whose important task is to do for the six Northern
counties what was previously done for the country as a whole by the Ministry of Health Inspec-
torate. The Northern Counties Association is, in fact, no longer an Association of voluntary
agencies ; it is a composite body of a new and most interesting type, and its future will be
watched with keen interest, notably by other County Associations which have not yet entered
into so closely knit a partnership with the local authorities. There is certainly room for the
formation of intermediate types of organisations in social work as in industry. The success of
the Northern Counties Association's venture, judged simply by its effectiveness in promoting
the spiritual and material well-being of the blind, will depend on voluntaryism being able to pull
its full weight in the partnership.
The reconstitution of the Executive Council of the National Institute for the Blind is a
parallel move, actuated partly by the determination to strengthen and consolidate the voluntary
system and partly by the desire to implement fully the arrangement made in 1925 by the Institute
with the Advisory Committee on the Welfare of the Blind.
The predominant voice in the control of the Institute will in future lie with directly elected
Councillors, representative of the blind and of workers for the blind throughout the country.
The outline of the new constitution on page 186 of this issue shows that the scheme has been
most carefully constructed. At least one-fourth of the Council will be blind persons. The
rule which has hitherto debarred from membership the salaried officers of voluntary societies
has been waived in favour of the College of Teachers and the Association of Workshops. Local
authorities are represented through their national associations. Such an amalgam of national
and local members, of blind and sighted, of voluntary workers and official representatives, should
be strong and well able to direct wisely the effective performance of the national services for
the blind. The Editor.
page
191
BEACON
RECENT
PUBLICATIONS
A Pamphlet on Talking Gloves.
Although the manual alphabet as used by
the deaf-blind is extremely easy to learn, and
must always be mastered by Home Visitors as
part of their routine duty, it is surprising to
find many people who have to come into
contact with the deaf-blind in Institutions and
Homes and are content to be without means
of communicating with them. The loneliness
of the deaf-blind man and woman must often
be almost intolerable, and it is surely the
bounden duty of those whose work brings
them into contact with this most sadly
handicapped class to do anything within their
power to alleviate it.
For such people, who do not feel able to
master the deaf-blind manual alphabet, the
" Talking Gloves " described in a pamphlet
by Harold Clark, and recently published in
Ohio, should meet a need. The gloves are
familiar to most workers here, and are very
simply made, as they merely consist of ordin-
ary cotton gloves, bearing the letters of the
alphabet upon them. The position of the
letters is memorised by the blind-deaf, and
his companion spells out conversation to him;
considerable speed can be quickly attained.
The pamphlet gives an interesting instance
of this, from an article by Dr. Alexander Bell;
just about 50 years ago he made use of the
gloves to communicate with a five-year-old
pupil — " A little practice," he writes, " en-
abled me to play upon his hand as one would
play upon the keys of a piano and quite as
rapidly."
A description is given in the pamphlet of
the use made of talking gloves by two elderly
American men, both of whom were enabled,
by keeping in touch with current events
through having the newspaper read to them
in this way on their hands, to acquire a vast
amount of general knowledge. " Never for a
moment has Mr. H. lost touch with the world.
If you wish any figures on the cost of the
Panama Canal, if you are looking for expert
information about' the East River Tunnel, if
you are interested in monorail cars, aeroplanes,
automobiles, radium, you will find a mine of
information in the discourse of this octo-
genarian man."
Perhaps the very simplicity of " Talking
PAGE
192
Gloves " has militated against their popularity;
people are inclined to imagine that such a
simple method of communication cannot be
satisfactory. To such sceptics Mr. Clark's
pamphlet will perhaps bring conviction as to
the value of this very simple contrivance.
A Home for the Blind in Holland.
We have just received an illustrated booklet
describing a Home for Blind Men and Women
" Sonneheerdt," at Ermelo, Holland ; its
pictures are particularly attractive, and the
whole place, from the kitchen where " sub-
stantial but excellent meals are carefully
prepared " to the entrance hall, with a bas-
relief on the wall and a beautiful hydrangea
at the door, seems to be flooded with sunshine
and light. " Everyone wants to be alone
sometimes, and Sonneheerdt has catered for
this " are the words opposite a photograph of
one of the bedrooms ; each blind person, we
are told, has a separate room, fitted with
central heating, running water, and simply
but very attractively furnished. Braille
printing works have been started in connection
with the Home, and there is also a workshop
for the making of brushes, baskets, rugs, and
for chair-caning.
Institute for the Blind of Trinidad and
Tobago.
The Report for 1930 states that there are
now 46 adults and 7 children in the Institute.
Like almost every other institution here and
overseas, the Trinidad Institute is feeling the
present depression, and hopes that the
Government will do something to increase its
grant, and so to make up for the falling-off of
private benevolence. The Report is illus-
trated with photographs of men and women
at work, and with an attractive picture of the
main building.
National Library for the Blind.
The Report for 1930/31 states that a new
circulation record has once more been
reached, and over twenty thousand more
volumes issued from Westminster and Man-
chester than in the previous year. Nearly
four-hundred voluntary copyists are now at
work, and over a hundred paid blind copyists
are engaged in the work of transcription. In
the course of the Report some delightful
letters are quoted from readers, thanking the
Library for " intellectual delight past com-
puting," and for deliverance from the " all-
devouring dragon of loneliness."
BEACON
MANCHESTER AND DISTRICT SOCIAL
CLUB FOR THE BLIND.
T
By A. M. WARREN
HIS Club was founded about
ten years ago when little or
nothing was done by the
various voluntary agencies
to cater for the recreative
side of the lives of blind
people after they had left
school or been trained for some occupation.
It is a club of the blind for the blind and is
entirely managed by blind people. It is
self-supporting and is run on a subscription
basis of ten shillings a year. This sum
entitles a member to participate in all the
various events — whist drives, socials, draught,
domino, bagatelle and ring-throwing competi-
tions— free of any extra charges.
The club room is kindly lent by the
Manchester and Salford Blind Aid Society,
and here, on most Saturday evenings in the
year, the members gather together to pass an
enjoyable evening and are provided with
refreshments. This room, however, is fast
becoming too small for the various activities of
the Club and efforts are being made to raise
funds for the securing of premises of our own.
In this connection, the sale of sweets, per-
fumes, necklaces, bead flowers and silver
paper has realised quite a good sum of money,
but we are now contemplating even greater
schemes.
So far I have only dealt with the indoor life
of the Club, but there is an outdoor side, and
this may be the more interesting to many
people.
When we were firmly established indoors,
we realised that this was insufficient, and that,
if our people were to keep healthy, they must
be provided with health-giving exercise and
out-of-door recreation. The Manchester
Corporation were therefore approached, with
the result that we now have a piece of ground
in one of their parks, complete with fine
pavilion, skittle allev, and cricket pitch. Not
only that, but this ground is shut off from the
rest of the park and sighted people are not
allowed to enter it without the permission of
the Club. Of course, the ground is open to all
blind people, but the utensils and accessories
belong to the Club, and they are held respon-
sible for the cleaning of the pavilion and for
general orderliness.
Secretary of the Club.
This year the greatest event of our Club's
life occurred.
Just about Christmas time we received a
letter from the Royal Glasgow Blind Asylum
Social Club for the Blind saying that they
would like to spend Easter week-end in
Manchester in order to compete with us in
various kinds of games. This caused great
excitement, and our committee set to work to
make the necessary arrangements. Unfortun-
ately, the local blind institution (Henshaw's
Institution for the Blind) could do nothing to
help us, but the Blind Aid Society assisted us
to get hotel accommodation at reasonable
charges and also loaned us their room for the
whole week-end.
On Saturday morning, April 4th, at six
o'clock, our president and several members
were at the station to meet the Scotch
midnight express. From the station these
twentv-one Glaswegians (fourteen gentlemen
and seven ladies) were conveyed to the hotel
for breakfast, then on to our ground at
Heaton Park, where they were initiated into
the game of cricket, which does not appear to
have achieved the same popularity among the
_blind in Scotland as it has with us.
In the afternoon a skittle match, Glasgow
v. Manchester, was played, when prizes were
given to the highest scorers — a lady's and
gentleman's amongst the partially sighted and
a lady's and gentleman's amongst the totally
blind. Three out of these four prizes were
handed over to the visitors, though Manches-
ter won the game.
After the match we all adjourned to the club
room, where tea, followed by a whist drive and
dance, was provided. On the way the
visitors kept the car alive with songs of
" bonnie Scotland." The only English tune
attempted (to our shame be it said) was
unknown to the English contingent present.
At the whist drive two out of the four
prizes were won by the visitors, but Manches-
ter retained both the boobies.
Although the Glaswegians must have been
tired out after their midnight journey and
strenuous day, the dance went with a right
good swing, and we were initiated into the
awful mysteries of the eightsome reel,
together with its murderous war-cries.
PAGE
193
BEACON
On Sunday morning we had dinner at
Boggart Hole Clough, one of Manchester's
finest natural parks, then went on to Belle
Vue, where we were personally conducted
round the zoological gardens by the manager
himself. We were given a free ride round the
lake in a motor-boat, and some of us had a
snake wrapped round our necks. Mr.
Russell, the organising secretary of the
Glasgow party, was presented with a snake's
skin in memory of the visit. We also fed the
elephants and examined an antler that had
just fallen off a deer.
After tea in the Chinese cafe we again
returned to the club room for a free-and-easy
evening, during which Mr. Russell gave a
short history of the Glasgow club. In the
course of the evening, also a suggestion was
mooted which may be of interest, and that
was the affiliation of Social Clubs in order to
raise funds and generally to facilitate inter-
city games.
Monday was spent at the park in various
sports, all of which, with the exception of the
cricket match, were again won by the visitors.
The grand finale of the glorious week-end
was a concert at the club room on Monday
evening, in which both Scotch and English
artists took part, and during which a short
history of our Club was read.
Afterwards about eight of our members
stayed behind to see the visitors off by the
ten minutes past one train to Glasgow.
Thus ended the most wonderful week-end
on record — brimful of fun and right goodwill.
Manchester, to show how much she is
maligned, gave us perfect weather : bright
with sunshine, cool with soft breezes.
Such an impression the week-end created
here that we are now saving up to pay a
return visit to Glasgow, and the Glasgow
people are as keen about this as we are.
Now we are in the midst of our summer
programme.
A general sports' day has been arranged,
and two cricket matches have been fixed with
Stockport, while inquiries have been received
from Burnley. Rambles have also been
planned.
We sincerely hope the foregoing may
stimulate other blind communities to do as
we have done and thus provide their people
with something more than " shop " to talk
and think about, and better health of mind
and body.
PAGE
194
(DRREKMNCE
To the Editor.
"The Braille Rainbow."
Sir, — May I be given a little space for a few
words apropos the letter from Mr. Simes
which appeared in the current issue of The
New Beacon ?
This gentleman is so exactly right in his
remark that the " Blind-Deaf are individual
personalities with very diverse needs and
possibilities " and emphasises their claim to an
individual society. To discover the best
means for meeting these needs and offer scope
to increase these possibilities, is one object for
which the National Deaf-Blind Helpers'
League has been founded. To " pauperise
and spoil " is, in very truth, a cruelly mis-
taken kindness. Our aim is to save our less
fortunate comrades from being spoiled by
pauperism. We are no rival society, we have
earnestly appealed for co-operation to all
those who are working on behalf of the Blind
and of the Deaf.
Our League should be as a gateway by
which all such interested persons may arrive
by a short cut to the solution of the very
difficult problem how best to promote the
happiness of those in the " dark silence." Our
ideals are far too sacred to allow prejudice or
rivalry to mar the good which may accrue
from a society founded principally by those
who, since they wear the " shoe," can tell
exactly where it pinches.
Recently, one of our associates called upon
me to ask what could be done for the Deaf-
Blind in Newport. One of these whom she
had visited had had no recreation or conver-
sation for two years ! Her days are spent in
sitting in a corner of the room ! No wonder
the nerves are at breaking point ! And with
such cases still in existence there is surely
room for every willing and generous helper.
It is with proud gratitude that we announce
our little society to be the first on record to
produce a stereotyped magazine exclusively
for the Deaf-Blind. We have been enabled to
do this by the very generous concessions made
to us by the National Institute for the Blind.
Our object is to encourage and stimulate
talents that have been lying dormant in so
many of our gifted members. We invite
those of brighter temperaments to pass on the
secret of their happiness. We would pool our
BEACON
mental resources and share our blessings one
with another. We tell our funniest experi-
ences, and thus turn our little tragedies into
humorous adventures, and several editors
have kindly given us permission to select
suitable articles from their magazines, and
these are transcribed by sighted friends.
Our " Braille Rainbow " (so named because
in our creeds, temperaments, and literary
tastes we vary as distinctly as do the colours in
the rainbow, and, like these when united in
purpose, we may harmonise into joy-giving
radiance), has met with a very warm reception
— the only complaints being that there are not
enough pages and too few copies. As yet our
funds will not allow us to increase the number
of either of these. And for this purpose the
smallest donations will be gratefully received
and acknowledged by Col. Chamier, O.B.E.
(Hon. Treasurer for " The Braille Rainbow "
Fund), 16, Winchester Road, Hampstead,
N.W.3.
Yours, etc.,
(Mrs.) E. M. Taylor,
Editor of " The Braille Rainbow," Official
Organ of The National Deaf-Blind Helpers'
League.
To the Editor.
The National Deaf-Blind Helpers' League.
Sir, — As Hon. Secretary of the National
Deaf-Blind Helpers' League, I think a word
from me would be opportune to correct cer-
tain misapprehensions under which your
correspondent, Mr. G. Simes, appears to be
labouring.
It is not intended to be understood that
nothing is done for the Deaf-Blind, but rather
that more should be done for their social
welfare and happiness than at present, and our
aim is to bring about a greater public aware-
ness on the matter. Of course conditions are
probably better in London than in other parts
of the country, and I, personally, always
receive help from the Blind-Deaf Care Branch
of the Royal Association in Aid of the Deaf
and Dumb when asked for. But London
is not all England, and welfare work on
the lines described by your correspondent
does not exist in all areas ; in any case,
whether in London or elsewhere, there is in
this region of dark silence always need for care
and attention in the matter of social welfare
for the deaf-blind people who are so often
lonely and unhappy even when their bodily
needs are provided for. To be deaf-blind in
a deaf-blind world would be quite a different
matter, but to be deaf-blind in a seeing and
hearing world is a condition of isolation which
it is very hard for people with their normal
faculties to appreciate.
Yours, etc.,
A. D. Watton.
Hon. Secretary.
To the Editor.
The Deaf-Blind.
Sir, — Referring to Mr. Simes's letter ; I
am very glad so much is being done for the
deaf-blind in London. I agree with him that
to " pauperise or spoil " them is certainly
" cruel kindness." On the other hand I am
sorry Mr. Simes feels so satisfied ; when that
stage is reached progress ceases. Ought we to
feel satisfied as long as anyone deaf and blind
is obliged to live in a Poor Law Institution or
Mental Home (unless their mental condition
renders that necessary) ?
Imagine being debarred all social inter-
course with one's fellows, which to a great
extent is the case in institutions for those who
can see and hear. Yet many so placed
manage to retain a normal spiritual and
mental outlook in spite of these adverse
conditions. Yours, etc.,
(Mrs.) E. H. Lee,
Moseley.
To the Editor.
From John Evelyn's Diary, 1695.
Sir, — In the course of my reading (using
the admirable Students' Library of the
National Institute), I have come across the
following extract from the " Diary of John
Evelyn " dated October 25th, 1695, which
may be of interest to some of your readers.
" The Archbishop and myself went to
Hammersmith, to visit Sam' Morland who
was entirely blind ; a very mortifying sight.
He showed us his invention of writing, which
was very ingenious ; also his wooden kalender,
which instructed him all by feeling ; and
other pretty and useful inventions of mills,
pumps, etc., and the pump he had erected
that serves water to his garden, and to passen-
gers, with an inscription, and brings from a
filthy part of the Thames near it a most
perfect and pure water. He had newly
burried £200 worth of music books 6 feet
underground, being as he said, love songs and
vanity. He plays himself Psalms and religious
hymns on the theorbo." Yours, etc.,
C. E. Bolam.
Greatford Rectory, Stamford, Lines.
PAGE
195
BEACON
METHODS OF REMUNERATION.
in.
By BEN PURSE.
IT is recorded of the learned Thomas
Fuller that he once said : " Scoff not
at the natural defects of any, which
are not in their power to amend.
' Tis cruelty to beat a cripple with his
own crutches." In our search for the
ideal system of wage payments we are
apt to overlook the fact that the people with
whom we are so intimately concerned can
never be regarded as ioo per cent, efficient
in the modern workaday world.
Any method of remuneration therefore,
which is entirely based upon a pure system of
piecework can never be applied to the blind
employee without subjecting him to the
greatest economic handicap. It was this
consideration which compelled the more
humane and progressive organisations of the
country to abandon in part the piecework
system of remuneration nearly twenty-five
years ago. Obviously to expect the blind
pieceworker to be entirely self-supporting on
the results of a much reduced productive
capacity was to assume an attitude which
represented in effect the negation of all
philanthropy, even though the system was
practised by so-called charitable organisa-
tions. Such an attitude could not be sus-
tained, even apart from its baneful effects
upon the blind community, because quite
naturally a generous public desired to know
and to feel that their munificence was being
bestowed upon recipients whose economic
efficiency was so seriously impaired as to
remove them virtually from the arena of
competition.
What other justification for public appeals
could be preferred, if those responsible for
the conduct of workshop employment merely
paid piecework rates ? The best type of
employer even did more than this : hence
philanthropy was summoned to the aid of
those handicapped folk who sought to
minimise their disability by contributing
their quota of service to the world's work.
By painfully slow processes a system of wage
payments was evolved by which subsidies of
varying amounts were provided, which at the
best were totally inadequate to enable the
blind worker to secure a reasonable standard
of life. In his anxiety still further to improve
PAGE
196
his status, he sought to redress the balance
by calling upon the Government and the
municipalities to do things for him which
were and are subversive of all true economic
theory and practice. In short, certain schools
of thought advocated a system of wage
payments which had and have no relationship
to production, and to this extent their
conclusions lose touch with the realities of
practical life.
Any system of remuneration which is so
far divorced from intrinsic commercial values
must inevitably tend to become merely a form
of relief, and the agencies undertaking the
administration of such artificial arrangements
are nothing more or less than glorified relief
stations.
Those who regard their administrative
responsibilities seriously cannot be satisfied
with the varying systems of remuneration
that now obtain. The more progressive
officials are anxiously seeking to discover a
satisfactory way out of the present impasse,
but they rightly refuse to be dragooned into
the adoption of methods that bear no relation-
ship to the facts of life. Everyone desires the
introduction of a system which will secure to
the individual the proper reward of his
labour. We are all anxious that a due
assessment of disability should be made and
as far as may be, compensated for, but it is
difficult to agree that remuneration should be
provided that is altogether out of proportion
to economic worth, and one which so far
ignores productive capacity as to deliberately
encourage the viewpoint that wages can
remain static even though production fall to
zero. John Stuart Mill put the matter very
concisely, and in our opinion very truthfully,
when he wrote : " The bad workmen, who
form the majority of the operatives in many
branches of industry, are decidedly of
opinion that bad workmen ought to receive
the same wages as good." Undoubtedly this
conception has only too frequently influenced
certain lines of conduct when wage adjust-
ments have been sought. In some quarters
it is fashionable to sneer at the point of view
that unless there is an incentive in your system
of remuneration, men will fail to give of their
best, either to the State or the private em-
BEACON
ployer, and those who behave in this manner
entirely fail to recognise that there is any
validity in the doctrine of " the rent of
ability." Possessing little or no skill them-
selves, they are unwilling to recognise that
the highly efficient workman is entitled to a
proportionate reward for the services he
renders.
A number of correspondents have asked
that we should state our own views in respect
of the system of wage payments we would
desire to have inaugurated ; that will come
in due course, but for the present we are
anxious to give details of the arrangements
that are made by certain workshops for the
blind which are experimenting in the sphere of
economic inquiry and research.
One of the oldest institutions for the blind
in this country, the old St. George's School
and Institute, now better known as the
Leatherhead School for the Blind, has estab-
lished a large and well-equipped factory for
the employment of the blind in Waterloo
Road, London, S.E. At the time of writing,
143 work-people are employed. In 1926 it
was decided to try the experiment of mini-
mum wage payments, and it is not too much
to say that the departure from the old
system is more than justified. It is necessary
here to point out that the experiment was
entered upon with much trepidation ; efforts
had been made in many other places to
establish a similar system, but the results
had been disappointing, and so the atmos-
phere was charged with doubts and hesitation
and many dismal prophecies. The Govern-
ment department particularly concerned was
frankly sceptical, and the London County
Council did not give the scheme its blessing.
Those who were responsible for the
adoption of the system had sufficient pre-
science to properly safeguard the new enter-
prise, for they knew that the inauguration of
a general system of minimum wage payments
would spell financial and commercial ruin
unless it were adequately protected. Subject
to the Committee being satisfied that the
standard of work is maintained, the manager
is empowered to augment the income of
married men to 45s. per week, including
bonus, and the single men and widowers
without dependants to 35s., including bonus,
on the following conditions, viz : —
1. No such augmentation shall apply to
any worker under the age of 21 years.
2. New workers shall not receive augmen-
tation until they have been employed
for a period of six months.
3. Any person marrying subsequent to this
date will have his claim to augmentation
specially considered, but in no case
shall any worker be considered eligible
unless he is earning at least 15s. per
week.
4. All income, including earnings of wife,
but excluding contributory pensions,
shall be taken into account in determin-
ing the minimum of 45s. and 35s.
respectively.
5. No augmentation shall be given to any
worker who fails to maintain his average
earnings for any reason whatsoever,
" other than through no fault of his
own."
6. For the purpose of the augmentation
and the bonus of 15s., the week is
divided into 11 sessions, two sessions
daily from Monday to Friday, and one
on Saturday.
7. There are further regulations providing
penalties for absence from work and
other causes within the control of the
employee.
It may fairly be claimed that the system in
operation at the Waterloo Road factory has
now passed the experimental stage, and we
learn with interest that there is no intention
on the part of the management of making any
fundamental departure from methods that
have been so eminently successful.
It is perhaps necessary to explain that the
guaranteed payments are made up in the
following manner : the piecework rates on all
work executed plus a bonus of 15s. per week
to every worker, and where the piecework
prices and bonus are less than the stipulated
minimum, the balance is provided as an
augmentation of wages grant. It will be
noted therefore that there is sufficient elas-
ticity in the scheme to secure to pieceworkers
the full results of their labour, and the
speedy and efficient man is not penalised by
having to conform to a standard that is lower
than his productive capacity. This latter
provision in our opinion is the saving grace
of the situation, since it secures to the
competent workman just that element of
incentive which it is absolutely essential to
preserve.
The following figures clearly illustrate the
value of this enterprise, and emphasise that
the element of growth maintains a proper
PAGE
197
proportion as
bet
ween economic earnings
and pure benevolence.
1928-29 1929-30 1930-31
Earnings £0,401 £7,187 £7,732
15s. flat bonus ... 4,425 4,734 4,993
Special augmentation 1,012 1,056 1,130
Holiday Grants ... 781 912 873
Totals
£12,619 £13,889 £14,728
In concluding this article, it is fitting to
observe that no system of wage payments we
have so far examined is less free from funda-
mental objections than that which we have
endeavoured briefly here to outline. It sets
an accurate value on the commercial im-
portance of a well-regulated wage system,
whilst at the same time it gives a reasonably
adequate share of responsibility to those
benevolent impulses which are rightly associ-
ated with all undertakings such as that
conducted under the auspices of the Leather-
head School for the Blind.
{To be continued.)
ACHIEVEMENTS
OF THE BLIND
From Street Playing to Broadcasting.
Mr. Maurice Droegmanns, the blind
violinist, has returned to broadcasting after
playing in the streets of the West End. He is
a Belgian, with a Continental reputation as a
violinist and composer. He says that playing
in the streets is not a dignified business for an
artist, but one must live, and even there, he
will not play " the common stuff."
New Blind Mus.Bac.
At the Manchester University last month,
Mr. Reuben Taylor, who is blind, had
conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor
of Music.
Blind Composer's Opera Produced.
An opera by a blind composer is now having
a successful run at the Lyric Theatre,
Hammersmith. This is " The Piper," by
Mr. Herbert Ferrers. He conducted rehear-
sals, and also the first performance. He finds
conducting a little tiring, but not difficult.
Carpentry is one of his hobbies.
Presentation to Blind Harpist.
A new Gothic harp was presented last
month at Barmouth to Mr. David Roberts, the
blind harpist, who has played before Royalty
and has won prizes at National Eisteddfodau.
PAGE
198
OficJlfo
BEACON
Mr. Edwin Jones, J.P.— Aged 80.
Alderman Edwin Jones, J. P., of Swindon,
the blind ex-mayor, has attained his eightieth
year, and will shortly complete fifty years as a
Wesleyan preacher. He remains in good
health, gets about in a wonderful way and
takes the liveliest interest in all that goes on
around him.
Blind M.Sc.
Mr. Peter S. Sumner, a master at Worcester
College for the Blind, has surpassed his B.A.
and B.Sc. degrees by securing the M.Sc.
degree in economics at the London Univer-
sity. He lost his sight at Ypres, and was
formerly a student at Worcester. He teaches
English, history, and Latin, and took up the
study of economics as a hobby. In all his
studies, he has been greatly assisted by his
wife.
Splendid March Past of Blind Girl Guides.
At the rally last month of the 1,000 Girl
Guides on Knavesmere, York, marched the
Blind School Company of 20 sightless girls.
Few of those who watched the parade
realised that these guides could not see — that
the command : " Eyes right ! " for them
meant no more than turning the head. This
company neither straggled nor faltered as they
went by, their hands just touching as they
marched. After the march past, Mrs. Percy
Birley, the Chief Commissioner, spoke to the
Blind School Company and praised their
display. She also spoke to Kathleen Wilson,
a " post " guide in a wheel chair, who took
part in the parade.
Royal Normal College Successes.
Kathleen Hilda Fowler, a student of the
Royal Normal College for the Blind, Upper
Norwood, has been successful in passing the
Examination in Shorthand of the London
Chamber of Commerce at 120 words per
minute, and also the Senior Typewriting
Examination (attaining a speed of 50 words
per minute in the speed test), gaining dis-
tinction in both subjects.
Nine other students of the College sat for
the Junior Typewriting Examination in May,
all of whom have also passed with distinction.
The papers (in the case of the Typewriting
Examinations), instead of being worked from
manuscript copy, as is the practice with seeing
candidates, were taken down by the. blind
candidates in Braille shorthand and typed
from their notes.
BEACON
UNION OF COUNTIES ASSOCIATIONS
FOR THE BLIND.
Report of Annual Meeting.
THE Annual Meeting of the County Councils and of the Ophthalmological
Union of Counties Associ- Society, the Ophthalmic Section of the Royal
ations for the Blind was Society of Medicine and the Council of
[HE Annual Meeting of the
Union of Counties Associ-
ations for the Blind was
held at Clothworkers' Hall,
Mincing Lane, E.C.3, on
Wednesday and Thursday,
June 24th and 25th, 193 1 ,
under the Chairmanship of Mr. P. M. Evans,
M.A., LL.D., whose unanimous re-election as
Chairman was the first business before the
Meeting. Having taken the Chair, Mr. Evans
acknowledged the honour done him and spoke
of the new ideas and methods which were
coming into operation with which he hoped to
help the Union to keep abreast.
During the course of formal business the
election of Dr. Eichholz as a co-opted member,
representing the National Institute for the
Blind, was carried unanimously. Later in the
meeting the nomination of Mrs. Knapp, Vice-
Chairman of the Midland Counties Associ-
ation and of the Rev. H. Every, Vice-Chair-
man of the Western Counties Association as
the representatives of the Council of the
Union on the Council of the National Institute
for the Blind was received and approved.
The Report on the work of the year 1930/3 1
for the Annual Report was adopted, together
with the Report of the Prevention of Blindness
Committee for the same year. The latter
Report contained an account of the means by
which the Committee had been enabled to
begin its work, through grants from the
Clothworkers' Company and the National
Institute for the Blind. The Committee's
aims may be summarised as follows : to
investigate and report on the measures which
are being taken by Local Authorities and
Voluntary Societies throughout this country
for the Prevention of Blindness, to keep in
touch with methods adopted in other countries,
to inquire into the system of certification of
the blind with a view to assisting research into
the causes of blindness, to seek co-operation
with all bodies whose assistance is likely to
encourage preventive measures in adolescent
and middle life and to stimulate the safe-
guarding of eye accidents, in industrial and
agricultural occupations by propaganda or any
other useful means. The personnel of the
Committee includes representatives of two
British Ophthalmologists . The Report , which
covered the period April 1st, 1930 to March
31st, 193 1, was supplemented by a statement
from which the following is an extract :
The Secretary has carried out investiga-
tions in the areas of the following County
and County Borough Councils : — Cheshire,
Cumberland, Gloucestershire, Lancashire,
Northumberland, Surrey, Carlisle, Chester,
Eastbourne, Gloucester, Hastings, Hull,
Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle-upon-
Tyne and Wolverhampton. She has also
visited a number of Blind Agencies in order
to ascertain at first hand the arrangements
made for dealing with cases of defective
sight and to discuss problems of Registra-
tion and Certification of the Blind.
" At the special request of the Committee
the Secretary visited and reported on the
Certification of the Blind Clinic set up by
the Corporation of Glasgow, where the
services of four ophthalmic surgeons, two of
whom attend sessions twice weekly, are
available for examining and certifying blind
persons. From the records thus obtained
valuable statistics are in process of being
built up. From representations made to
Dr. Bridge, Senior Medical Inspector of
Factoriesat the Home Office, it is hoped
that the Home Office will encourage the use
of gauze veils in works where drilling and
grinding are carried on. The widespread use
of these veils should help to minimise eye
hazards in the particular branch of industry
for which they are suitable. These veils
were brought to the notice of the Union in
the first place through Mr. Mullens,
Chairman of the South Wales and
Monmouthshire Counties Association for
the Blind, and their use has been strongly
advocated by Mr. Bernard Cridland of
Wolverhampton. It was further reported
that visits to Staffordshire, Derbyshire,
Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire and Oxford had
been arranged."
Reports were received on the British Wire-
less for the Blind Fund, the Association of
Workshops and on the result of the examin-
PAGE
199
BEACON
ation for the Macgregor Prize. In connection
with the latter, the approval of the Council
was given to a change in the character of the
test. Up to the present the examination has
been in the teaching of Braille and Moon type.
Excellent work has been done in this direction
but it was felt that the amount of originality
which can be shewn in the working out of such
schemes is limited and that a change would be
advantageous. The new proposal would have
the effect of widening the scope of the examin-
ation, as it would not limit it, as has happened
in practice, to candidates sitting for the Home
Teachers Examination. The recommend-
ation adopted for 1932 was that the Macgregor
Prize be offered for the best essay not exceeding
500 words in length on some line of original
research in the field of Home Teachers' work.
The suggestion had received the approval of
Mr. E. D. Macgregor, and the result of the
new test will be observed with interest.
A discussion on the adoption of White
Sticks for the blind was begun on Wednesday
afternoon and continued before the close of
the meeting on Thursday morning. The
concensus of opinion among the blind mem-
bers present was against the use of white
sticks ; but no definite recommendation was
made as it was felt that their adoption should
depend upon individual choice and not upon
concerted action.
On Thursday morning, June 25th, Mrs.
Barton Land, Secretary to the Staffordshire
Association for the Blind, gave the meeting
food for thought in her interesting and
constructive paper on the problem of Provision
for the Partially Blind. She was followed by
Mr. Starling, General Superintendent and
Secretary of the Birmingham Royal Institu-
tion for the Blind, who spoke in the light of
his own experience and produced statistics
relating to his Institution. Both speakers
attended the meeting as representatives of the
Midland Counties Association.
The discussion which followed was joined
in by Mr. Dixson, Miss King, Mr. Edward
Evans and by Mr. Lovett of the Ministry of
Health and Dr. Underwood of the Board of
Education, both of whom referred to the sight-
saving methods, adopted in certain States and
Cities in America, which they had recently
had an opportunity of studying at first hand
during the World Conference on the Blind
held in the United States.
As a result of the discussion it was resolved
to ask the Executive Committee to investigate
and report on the problem of provision for the
partially blind.
In the afternoon an Open Session was held
at which the Council of the Union and all the
representatives of Local Authorities and
workers for the blind who had applied for an
invitation, were present. The subject before
this meeting was the World Conference on the
Blind and papers were read as follows : —
Home Services by Miss J. A. Merivale ;
Braille by Dr. Whitfield ;
The Industrial Aspect by Mr. S. W.
Starling ;
The Relationship of the Blind to the
Community at large by Captain Ian
Fraser ;
The General Aspect by Mr. W. McG.
Eagar and Mr. Lovett.
These papers will be printed in full and
copies will be obtainable from the Secretary,
Union of Counties Associations for the Blind,
66, Victoria Street, S.W.i. Copies of the
Report of the Annual Meeting can also be
obtained from the Secretary.
The South Eastern and London Counties
Association for the Blind held a Meeting for
Home Teachers and Home Visitors in its area
to hear speakers on subjects touching their
work, on July 6th, 193 1, at the Clothworkers'
Hall, London, by the kindness of the Cloth-
workers' Company, which also entertained
them to tea. Miss Jean Robinson spoke on
" Guiding for the Blind," Miss Ainsworth on
" Social Clubs for the Blind," and the
Reverend Albert Smith, Chaplain to the
Royal Association in aid of the Deaf and
Dumb, on " Work among the Blind-Deaf."
A Report of the Meeting will be published,
copies being obtainable from the Secretary to
the Association at 66, Victoria Street, London,
S.W.i, and a short account of the speeches
will appear in the next issue of The New
Beacon.
The South Eastern and London Counties
Association for the Blind held a meeting of its
Executive Council, followed by another
meeting of the Executive Council as the
Trustees of the National Blind Relief Society,
and also its Annual General Meeting, on the
afternoon of Tuesday, July 21st, 193 1, at the
Clothworkers' Hall, when the necessary
annual and other business was transacted.
PAGE
200
BEACON
The West Sussex Association for the Blind
publishes a Report for two years 1929/31.
During those two years the Association's work
has grown steadily, as has that of the Worthing
Society for Befriending the Blind, which
works within its area and is affiliated to it.
In spite of the loss of Vice-Chairman, Hon.
Treasurer, and Hon. Secretary, the organis-
ation has been consolidated. The Report
gives a comprehensive account of the work
done in the County. Copies can be obtained
from the Hon. Secretary, at 47, West Street,
Chichester.
REVLEWS
REPORTS
Deaf and, Blind Institute, Worcester, South
Africa.
We have received from the Deaf and Blind
Institute, Worcester, S.A., a most interesting
illustrated record of its fifty years' work. The
School was founded by the Dutch Reformed
Church in 1881 but for the first ten years only
deaf pupils were taken ; however, in 1890 the
Principal of the School visited Europe to
study educational methods in relation to the
blind, and on his return it was decided to
admit blind boys and girls ; there are now
120 blind pupils.
Up-to-date teaching methods are employed,
and a quotation from the Education Inspec-
tor's Report shows that the standard reached
is a high one ; he writes : " The standard
applied in my inspection of the School for the
Blind is not less severe than in the case of
other schools under my jurisdiction and the
results are meritorious in every respect."
There is much individual teaching, and the
handling of objects is encouraged.
Vocational training includes basket and
mattress making, piano tuning, and chair
caning, and a high standard of efficiency is
aimed at. But the section of the Report
headed " Educated and then ? " suggests that
the lot of the trained worker in South Africa
is a very hard one, and that the crying need
of such an institute as that at Worcester is
some system of after-care. The writer ends
with an appeal to those who read the Report
to do something to provide such a system,
without which the best training must almost
inevitably end in failure.
Mount Lavinia School for the Deaf and
Blind, Ceylon.
The Report for 1930 states that there are
now 127 blind children in the school. A new
hostel for boys has lately been opened, and a
new nursery and kindergarten for little girls.
The help of Toe H in developing the indus-
trial side of the work is gratefully acknow-
ledged and weaving, knitting, and basket-
making are successfully carried on. The
perennial problem of caring for the boys and
girls who have learned a trade, but who have
to leave school without much prospect for
the future is touched upon in the Report, and
a Committee has been formed to deal with
the problem.
Association of Workshops for the Blind.
The Second Annual Report (1930-31) gives
an interesting account of the year's work,
which has included an enquiry into the wages
paid to blind workers throughout the country
and into the question of the rates of augmen-
tation. The setting up of a Central Market-
ing Board is still under consideration, and
although progress has been somewhat
retarded the project has by no means been
given up. A list is given of the fifty-six
workshops and societies belonging to the
Association, which shows that it has support
in all parts of the country. The Association is
hoping to induce local authorities throughout
the country to accept an agreed minimum
scale of augmentation.
Canadian National Institute for the Blind.
The Report for the year ending March 31st,
1 93 1, is, as usual, well-illustrated and full of
interest. Industrial placement is a department
of blind work in which the National Institute
has always shown itself particularly active, and
in this connection, it is interesting to read in
the Report of the Blind Workmen's Compen-
sation Act, which became operative a few-
weeks ago ; under this Act, claims up to 50
dollars are looked after by industries under the
Workmen's Compensation Act, and compen-
sation exceeding this amount is paid by the
province on receipt of a certificate from the
Workmen's Compensation Board. During
the year just ended, 78 placements have been
made, and an interesting organisation formed,
made up of the blind men and women placed
in small business undertakings by the Institute
who are thus banded together to secure the
advantages of communal buying.
PAGE
20I
BEACON
Victorian Association of Braille Writers,
South Yarra, Australia.
Over six hundred volumes have been
transcribed by voluntary writers for the
Library at South Yarra, during the year
1930/31 ; one voluntary writer has, during
her twenty-two years of service, transcribed in
all 475 volumes, a record of generous and
patient endeavour which must be almost
unrivalled. Library readers now number 420,
and over 15,800 volumes were lent during the
year.
Cardiff Institute for the Blind.
The 66th Annual Report, for the year
ending March, 1931, states that in spite of
trade depression goods to the value of £7,552
were disposed of, and workers paid at the rate
of £2,237 m wages, together with the sum of
£5,197 in augmentation, bonuses, etc. As
usual, the subscription list of the Institute
bears witness to the splendid generosity of the
workers in collieries and factories.
Guernsey Association for the Education and
Welfare of the Blind.
The eleventh Annual Report of the Associ-
ation for the year ending April 30th, 193 1,
gives an interesting account of the blind
persons on its Register ; there are no institu-
tions for the blind on the island, and they
therefore have to be sent to England for
education and training. Grants are made to
the aged and infirm, and to meet special
emergencies. It is specially interesting to see
that the work of prevention of blindness is not
overlooked, and that during the year 143 cases
have been dealt with under this head.
Association of Certificated Blind Masseurs.
The twelfth Annual Report for 1930/31
chronicles an important experiment, in that
steps have been taken to consider the desira-
bility of preparing blind post-graduate
students in the advanced forms of electro-
therapy ; four blind post-graduate students
are now taking a special course in this branch,
and the Committee will be guided by their
achievements in deciding whether this subject
shall find a place in the future syllabus of
those taking the medical electricity examin-
ations.
A visit was recently paid to the Massage
School by the Minister of Pensions, the Right
Hon. F. O. Roberts, M.P.
PAGE
202
THE AMERICAN BRAILLE PRESS.
THE deliberations of the New
York Conference brought
out, perhaps more clearly
than ever before, the para-
mount importance of co-
ordination and unification
in all efforts made for the
blind ; overlapping of every kind must mean
waste, and every effort must be made to
prevent it.
Two steps in this direction have lately been
taken by the American Braille Press in Paris,
which will be of interest to our readers,
especially as the first also marks a step towards
the unification of Braille.
1. It has been decided as from January,
1932, to merge two English publications, the
monthly " American Review for the Blind "
in Grade i|, with " The International
Magazine for the Blind " ; the new form of
periodical will be embossed in Grade 2, and
will thus be accessible to English readers.
2. It has been decided to give up the
publication of the French monthly, " The
Braille Magazine," and its readers are urged
instead to purchase the fortnightly " La
Lumiere," the publication of the Phare de
France, which has hitherto been distributed
free to individual readers, but is in future to
be published at 10 francs per annum.
The American Braille Press will only
publish in languages and for countries
where, as in Spain, Poland, and South
America, there is at present practically no
Braille printing done. The greater part of its
activities will thus be set free for the con-
struction of machines for the production of
zinc plates, and of electric printing presses,
and for research work in connection with
these.
ANNOIINOMINIS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND.
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
MUSIC.
The prices of the following pieces of music are subject
to a reduction of three-quarters for the blind resident
in the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
The minimum price is 6d. per copy.
CHURCH— s d
10,911 Bach. Come, Healing Cross, Bass Recit.
and Air from "St. Matthew Passion "
D minor ; A,— E1 2 0
BEACON
10.912 Handel. With Pious Hearts, Bass
Recit. and Air from " Judas Mac-
cabaeus," G minor ; G, — E1
ORGAN—
10.913 Bach. Allabreve in D, Vol. 8, No. 6 ...
10.914 Faulkes, W. Festival Prelude on " Ein'
Feste Burg," ...
10.915 Hoyte, W. S. Scherzo in B flat
10.916 Ouef, C. Desespoir
PIANO—
10.917 Albeniz, J. Zambra Granadina (Oriental
Dance)
10.918 Coates, A. Idyll
10.919 Craxton, Harold. Two Little Studies :
" A Sad Brook," and " A Spring
Morning "
10.920 Defesch, W. Les Flutes (Gavotte)
10.921 Demaret, R. The Blue Rose (Habanera)
10.922 Elkin, Robert. Sarabande Pensive ...
10.923 Farjeon, H. " Prelude " and " Pavane "
10.924 Foster, Ivor. Canzonetta
10.925 Kameneff, S. Where Snow-flakes Fall
10.926 Littleton, Eric. The Ballet Dancer ...
10.927 Mullen, F. Approaching Dusk (Valse
Lentc) ...
10.928 Thornton, R. S. The Children's Musical
Medley
DANCE—
10.929 Butler, R. and Wallace, R. I'm Happy
when I'm Hiking, Song Fox-Trot ...
10.930 King, W. The Waltz You Saved for Me,
Song- Waltz
10.931 Nicholls, H. When the Guards are on
Parade, Song Fox-Trot
10.932 Woods, H. River, Stay 'way from My
. Door, Song Fox-Trot
SONGS—
10.933 Arundale, Claude.
C— F1
10.934 Brahms. Cradle Song (Wiegenlied), F ;
F— F1
10.935 Carew, Molly. What Sing the Birds ?
F ; C— G1
10.936 Franck. Nocturne (French), E flat
minor; E — E1
Geehl, Henry. Zinetta, D ; D— G1 ...
Geehl, Henry. When Spring Goes Shop-
ping, E flat ; D— F1
10.939 Moya. The Song of Songs, B flat ;
D— E1
10.940 Sampson, Godfrey. In Youth is
Pleasure, E flat ; E— A1
10.941 Schubert. Hark, Hark ! the Lark,
B flat ; E— F1
10.942 Wolf, Hugo. Mignon, G flat ; A, sharp
—A1 flat
per vol.
West-Away, F
10,937
10,938
2 0
2 0
2 0
2 0
2 0
2 0
2 0
2 0
2 0
2 0
2 0
2 0
2 0
2 0
2 0
BRAILLE BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per vol.
10,832 /Esop's Fables. Retold by Enid Blyton.
Graduated Braille, Intermediate size,
Interlined, Stiff Covers. B.53
10,545-10,550 Iliad of Homer, The, by Andrew
Lang, M.A., Walter Leaf, Litt.D.,
and Ernest Myers, M.A., Grade 2,
Large size, Interpointed, Paper
Covers. 6 vols. F.366
10,598-10,601 Inconsistent Villains, The, by
N. A. Temple-Ellis. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers.
4 vols. F.212
s. d.
10,533-10,535 Passenger to Folkestone, The,
by J. S. Fletcher. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers.
3 vols. F.145
10,785 Points of View. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Cloth Boards. G.74...
10,624-10,627 Purple Robe, The, by Joseph
Hocking. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers. 4 vols.
F.224
10,602-10,605 Sea and the Jungle, The, • by
H. M. Tomlinson. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers.
4 vols. F.230
10,588-10,591 Sense and Sensibility, by Jane
Austen. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Cloth Boards. 4 vols. G.269
10,833 Tarrydiddle Town, and Other Stories,
by Enid Blyton. Graduated Braille,
Intermediate size, Interlined, Stiff
Covers. B.60
10,787-10,788 1066 and All That, by W. C.
Sellar and R. J. Yeatman. Grade 2,
Pocket size, Interpointed, Paper
Covers. 2 vols. D.67
Wav of Literature, The, Edited by
Ernest de Selincourt, M.A., D.Litt.
Intermediate size. Interlined, Stiff
Covers : —
10,834-10,835 First Book. Compiled by Miss
A. E. Woodall. Graduated Braille.
2 vols. B.110
10,836-10,838 Second Book. Compiled by Freda
M. Buchanan, M.A.(Edin), and
Eglantyne M. Jebb, M.A.(Oxon).
Graduated Braille. 3 vols. B.159 ...
10,843-10,846 Fourth Book. Compiled by Helen
Darbishire, M.A.(Oxon). Grade 2.
4 vols. B.267
per vol.
7 0
5
0
5
n
6
0
4
(i
5
II
MOON BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per vol.
3,082-3,087 Another part of the Wood, by s. d.
Denis Mackail. (Limited Edition).
6 vols 12 0
3.093 The Great Pine, by Mary Wilkins
Freeman
3.094 His Widows, by V. Hunt
3.095 Master John Horseleigh, bv T. Hardy
3.096 The Obstacle, bv E. M. Delafield
3.097 A War Hero, by A. Reid
NATIONAL INSTITUTE STUDENTS' LIBRARY.
ADDITIONS.
HISTORY. Vo
Jones, H. Stuart ; Roman Empire
LAW.
Rivington, H. G. Law of Property in Land ...
Smith, H. Emerson. Municipal and Local
Government Law
MISCELLANEOUS.
Torrance, A. Tracking Down the Enemies of
Man
Wicks, S. F. Public Speaking for Business Men
Yeats-Brown, F. Bengal Lancer
MODERN LANGUAGES.
Moliere. L'Ecole des Femmes ...
PHILOSOPHY.
Marcus Aurelius. Meditations ...
Prichard, H. A. Kant's Theory of Knowledge
Santayana, G. Realm of Essence
PAGE
203
BEACON
POETRY AND DRAMA.
Rossetti, Poems of Christina ... ... ... 4
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE.
Chamberlin, W. H. Soviet Russia ... ... 7
Marriott. J. A. R. How we are Governed ... 2
Portheim, P. Cohen. England, the Unknown
Isle 3
PSYCHOLOGY.
Had field, J. A. Psychology and Moral = ... 3
SCIENCE.
Tylor, Sir E. B. Anthropology 5
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND.
ADDITIONS- JULY, 1931.
FICTION. vols.
Baring, M. Half-a-Minute's Silence, and Other
Stories ... ... ... ... ... ... 2
Birmingham, G. A. Wild Justice ... ... 4
Bloch, J. R. (Trans. C. K. Scott-Moncrieff).
— and Co. ... ... ... ... ... 6
Borden, Lucille. From out Magdala 4
*Buckrose, J. E. Good-Natured Lady ... ... 3
Burke, T. Wind and the Rain 4
*Cannon, Cornelia. Red Rust ... ... ... 4
Christie, Agatha. Murder at the Vicarage ... 4
Cowper, E. E. Forbidden Island ... ... 2
Crofts, F. W. Sir John McGill's Last Journey 5
Cullum, R. The Wolf Pack 4
Dell, Ethel M. Storm Drift 5
*Footner, H. Substitute Millionaire ... ... 3
Glasgow, Ellen. They Stooped to Folly ... 5
Hay, Ian and S. King-Hall. Middle Watch ... 3
Jacks, L. P. All Men are Ghosts 2
*Kuller, J. van Ammers. Rebel Generation ... 5
Lewis, S. Main Street ... 7
Loder, V. Whose Hand ... ... ... ... 4
Modern Detective Stories ... ... ... 2
Rea, Lorna. Six Mrs. Greenes ... ... ... 3
♦Service, R. W. House of Fear ... ... ... 5
Sitwell, O. Dumb Animal and Other Stories ... 3
Tynan, K. The Most Charming Family ... 4
Walpole, H. Rogue Herries ... ... ... 9
Young, E. H. Miss Mole 5
MISCELLANEOUS.
jBaverstock, A. H. Priest as Confessor ... 2
Bensusan, S. L. On the Tramp in Wales ... 2
*Campbcll, T. Poems : Selected and arranged
by L. Campbell ... ... ... ... ... 2
Godley, Hon. Eveline. Charles XII of Sweden :
A Study in Kingship. (E. W. Austin Memorial) 4
*Gosse, Sir E. Silhouettes ... ... ... 4
fHolmes, Archdeacon E. E. The Church, Her
Books and Her Sacraments. (Boyle Lecture
1910) 2
t Ingram, Bishop W. Good News from God ... 2
Osborn, E. B. Socrates and his Friends ... 3
Passmore, T. H. New and Living Way : a
Study of the Hope of Mankind ... ... 5
Scott, Sir Walter and R. L. Stevenson. Selected
Poems. (Augustan Books of Modern Poetry) 1
Sedgwick, H. D. Marcus Aurelius ... ... 4
Stuart, Dorothy M. Christina Rossetti (English
Men of Letters Series). (E. W. Austin
Memorial) ... ... ... ... ... 3
Thomas, Helen. World without End ... ... 2
JUVENILE.
Collodi„C. (Trans. M. A. Murray.) Story of a
Puppet or the Adventures of Pinocchio ... 2
Metcalfe, W. C. Among Chinese Pirates ... 3
Nesbit, E. Nine Unlikely Tales for Children ... 2
*Smyth, J. Paterson. Boys' and Girls' Life of
Christ 2
* Stereotyped Books.
f Presented by the Guild of Church Braillists.
GRADE I.
Hutten, Baroness von. Maria ... ... ... 5
Ouiller-Couch, Mabel. Carroll Girls 4
ESPERANTO.
Herben, J. Malrica Knabo Kiu Glorigis ... 3
Lagerlof, Selrha. Junulino el Stormyr ... 2
Newell, L. N. Concise Course in Esperanto ... 3
Simunovic. Ano de L'Ringludo 2
MOON.
Miller, J. R. Things to Live for ... Volume 3
Pedler, Margaret. House of Dreams-Come-True 7
ADWTKtMNTS
CERTIFICATED HOME TEACHER requires post,
preferably near London, very good testimonials
G.B., 11, Oppidans Road, N.W.3.
Gentleman (37 years) seeks post as uncertified
HOME TEACHER ; willing to study for next Exam. ;
experienced with blind people. Good references.
F. C. W. Smith, South View, Station Rd., Belton, Gt.
Yarmouth.
HOME TEACHER (male), fully qualified, desires
appointment. Ten years' practical industrial experi-
ence. Intimate knowledge of social welfare work and
thoroughly versed in blind administration. Excellent
testimonials. J. M. E., Care of Editor, The New
Beacon, 224, Great Portland Street, W.l.
DIRECTOR required by WORLD COUNCIL for
the Blind. Qualifications : fluency in at least two
European languages, administrative ability and know-
ledge of methods of social research and investigation.
The Director will be required to live in Paris. Three
years' engagement contemplated. Salary, 75,000
francs per annum. Apply to " Mundus," at 224,
Great Fortland Street, London, W.l.
WANTED by the Bolton Workshops and Homes for
the Blind, sighted HOME TEACHER AND VISITOR
(woman) ; must be single person or widow. Salary :
uncertificated £130 p. a. ; certificated £156 p. a. Write
stating age, experience and qualifications to the
Chairman, Bolton Workshops and Homes for the Blind,
Marsden Road, Bolton, not later than the 22nd August,
1931. Envelopes to be endorsed " Home Teacher."
COLLEGE OF TEACHERS OF THE BLIND.
CRAFT INSTRUCTORS' EXAMINATION.
The next Craft Instructors' Examination will be
held on 13th, 14th and 15th October, 1931, at the
School for the Blind, Swiss Cottage, London, N.W.3.
Forms of application can be obtained from the Hon.
Registrar of the College, 224-6-8, Great Portland
Street, London, W.l, and must be returned not later
than 12th September, 1931.
Copies of previous examination papers can be
obtained from the Hon. Registrar.
COUNTY COUNCIL OF THE WEST RIDING OF
YORKSHIRE.
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.
WANTED — A sighted Woman Teacher and Visitor
for the Blind in the Selby, Goole and Thome areas of
the County Council. Salary £156 per annum.
Applicants must not be over 40 years of age, and
must have passed the Home Teachers' Examination of
the College and Association of Teachers of the Blind.
Forms of Application, together with particulars of
the duties, may be obtained on forwarding a stamped
addressed envelope to the Education Officer, County
Hall, Wakefield, to whom all applications must be sent
not later than the 28th August, 1931.
Printed by Smiths' Printing Company (London & St. Albans), Ltd., 22-24, Fetter Lane, London, E.C.4.
cDftcZNcw
BEACON
A MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF THE BLIND
Vol. XV.-No. 177.
SEPTEMBER 15th, 1931.
Price 3d.
3S. PER ANNUM, POST FREE.
Enttrtd as Second Class Matter, March 15, 1929, at the Post Office at Boston, Mass., under the Ad of March 3, 1879 {Sec. 397, P.L. and R.)
WIRELESS DISCUSSION GROUPS AND
THE BLIND.
An Account of the Summer School, held by the British Broadcasting Corporation at
New College, Oxford, to train Discussion-Group Leaders.
By W. H. COATES.
THIS conference provided a most interesting and profitable week, both of
instruction and amusement. All went smoothly, thanks to the untiring
organisers ; and although the serious side of the programme was full, it
was relieved by such holiday activities as are appropriate to a summer
school. One soon arrived at two conclusions — (a) that there is now going
on among the people of this country a good deal of hard, sound thinking
upon all present problems ; and (b) that most people can be interesting
when released for a time from their particular " trivial round." Keenness — Comradeship —
these are the two ideas which emerge, and these, as I think, are the underlying principles of
the Discussion-Group system. It is a young movement of great possibilities. All its members
are pioneers. It is an adventure in which the blind may take a full share.
Many of us are tempted into using the radio only as another form of entertainment — a
delightfully cheap and enervating form, in which you sit at your own fireside to be amused,
without the expense or bother of going to a music-hall ; or, at the most, as a vehicle for interest-
ing and useful information — rather like a periodical. Some people switch on their set regularly
each evening at about six o'clock or earlier, leaving it to blare and boom away unheeded and
unchecked until bedtime, while they read the newspaper, talk, play cards, or what not, as if
their loud speaker were an electric fan, or some kind of toy. This evil practice the B.B.C. are
especially anxious to quash.
They feel, and wish everyone else to feel, that an instrument of such enormous power
and almost unlimited range of action, should try to achieve something of real and permanent
value to the nation. It should be used for constructive purposes. It should not be content
with tickling listeners' ears, nor with giving them useful business hints, but should offer them
first-rate intellectual, aesthetic and ethical stimulation ; sound and vital knowledge, living
BEACON
ideas and (not least) a chance to express
their response to these. If they were to
neglect this function, the B.B.C. would fail
•in their trust. If the public refuse to respond
they will force the Corporation to forsake
this great conception of service and to
abandon what can become a real force in
civilisation.
Blind people all over the country have
here a magnificent opportunity. Here is
scope for their initiative and their energy.
If they are sincere in their wish to " pull
their weight " and be good citizens, this is
the very thing for them. Good citizenship
does not consist wholly in having a job and
earning your living, though this, of course,
is important too. It consists also in encourag-
ing and supporting with all your might
anything which you believe to be for the
general benefit.
Policy of the B.B.C.
One of the best means that Savoy Hill
has for putting this belief into practice is
its adult education scheme — the " Talks
Programme " about which so many hard
things have been said from time to time.
These talks are always given by experts.
These talks are kept as close as possible to
the world of everyday things. Their language
is simple and free from technical terms ;
examples and illustrations are taken from
ordinary life with which the listener is
familiar. The talks department use up much
energy and time in training these great
men not to talk over the heads of us
humble folk. For it is the man in the street
that the B.B.C. want to reach — the average,
intelligent citizen who is anxious to learn.
Moreover, the talks are designed to help
people to tackle the problems of the day ;
problems which they see around them ;
problems which, perhaps, they find in their
own lives. The programme for next winter
has some of the qualities of a work of art.
Each talk belongs to a series of six or twelve.
Each series, though complete in itself, is
connected with all the others and fills its
place in the whole scheme, which is intended
to make a broad survey of the state and
trend of modern civilisation. This pro-
gramme is ambitious ; it shows vision and
courage ; and I am sure will be welcomed
by all who want that power which education
brings, to live more fully and make the best
of oneself.
PAGE
206
Passive Listening.
In this mode of education lurks one great
danger. Someone at the conference used
an apt expression — " Education should try
to kindle the fire, not fill the pitcher." The
pupil should not be a sponge soaking up all
moisture that touches it ; he should be an
intellectual sieve, holding and storing what
he can accept, rejecting the rest. All that
the loud speaker says should be met by what
may be called interested resistance. Each
point should be weighed, criticised, analysed,
applied, amplified or refuted by personal
experience, and only after it has passed
these tests should it be accepted and
assimilated — " annexed," as Professor Series
put it. Only in this way can come into being
that large body of informed, intelligent, live
opinion which the B.B.C. are trying to create.
The Discussion-Group.
It was to combat this danger that the
Discussion-Group was invented. The term
discussion-group, as applied to broadcasting,
is a loose one, standing for a method of
education which is flexible enough to be
adapted to almost any local conditions. It
may be anything from a fireside or family
group, comprising p'erhaps half a dozen
members, to a gathering of a hundred or
more. Both these types, and all inter-
mediate grades, were represented at the
conference. It need not be highly organised
— probably the less the better. Informality
— ease of intercourse — absence of stiffness — -
is essential ; for the object of these meetings
is to listen and to talk.
Both these things a blind person can do
perfectly well. If he is the only blind man
in a group he is at no disadvantage, except
that he is at present unable to obtain a
Braille edition of the pamphlet, if any, issued
in connection with the series. He can take
Braille notes if he likes. He need not reserve
his speech until he can " catch the speaker's
eye." People do not make speeches at group
meetings ; they sit comfortably in their
chairs and speak a few sentences at a time
whenever they have anything relevant to
say. There is no chairman as such ; no set
procedure, no fuss. You criticise the broad-
cast talk, criticise or reinforce each other's
contributions, collect and compare your own
impressions and experiences, and sometimes,
perhaps, add fresh knowledge to elucidate
some point which the broadcasting lecturer
BEACON
has left obscure. There is room here for
wit, humour, anecdote, controversy and all
the delightful and stimulating ingredients
of good conversation.
The Listeners' Register.
The B.B.C. have realised that perhaps
some interested listeners may be prevented
by circumstances from enjoying the
advantages of group listening. For these
there is a " Listeners' Register," upon which
they can enter their names on payment of
one shilling, and through which they can
be brought into contact, either with an
existing group, or with other listeners
similarly placed, with whom they can
arrange discussions orally or by corre-
spondence.
The Group Leader.
One member of the group is more important
than all others. Experience has shown that
a group leader is absolutely necessary if the
group is to do well. He has certain functions,
which he will not find arduous if he is the
right man for the job. He has the whole
conduct of the group in his hands ; yet it is
impossible to lay down many general rules
for his guidance because, if he is a good
leader, his procedure will vary according
to the subject, according to the contents of
the broadcast talk, to the size of his group,
to the individualities of its members, and
so on. " To be a group leader is an art,
not a science," said Professor Series. He
must be tactful, understanding, a quick
thinker, able to soothe and prod and curb
and encourage and keep everyone at their
ease. In short, he must have the makings
of a good host.
A Blind Group Leader
This presents no great difficulties. There
are, however, one or two small points to
consider.
First, it is essential that a leader who is
blind should personally know all the members
of his group — their characters, their interests,
their opinions. This applies to any leader,
but particularly in the case of the blind.
Some of his flock may be shy, or slow to
express themselves, and, when they have
something to say, show it only by facial
expression or some slight movement which
would escape the keenest ears. It is at this
moment that a timely word from the leader
may make all the difference.
Again, when discussion is lively, two or
three members may begin speaking at once,
and may confuse a blind man, who will not
distinguish them, perhaps, quite so readily
as a man using his eyes.
One may sometimes be drawn into a dis-
cussion merely by a glance, which would, in
the case of a blind man, be a word — a
question, perhaps — " What do you think
about this point, Mr. X ? You've had a lot
to do with machines " — or something like
that.
Or it may happen that, where there are
seeing members in the group, one of them
may be betrayed by unseasonable levity of
mind into making physical gestures or
contortions for the amusement of his fellows,
thus placing the leader at a disadvantage.
All these obstacles, however, amount to
hardly more than quibbles. Everything
depends, ultimately, upon the leader's per-
sonality. If he has the right kind of person-
ality he is the best man to be leader, whether
he is blind or not.
Group Formation among the Blind.
I feel that a sighted group with a blind
leader is practicable, though the duties of
the leader are here a little more exacting
than usual. I would not recommend an
all-blind group with a seeing leader.
Individual blind people would do well to
attach themselves to sighted groups, and
where blind people form a group of their
own, I would strongly advise them to include
also, if they can, a number of seeing members,
because a group needs the greatest possible
variety of viewpoint and experience.
It was suggested at the conference — and
the suggestion seemed to meet with approval
■ — that the ideal group should be about thirty
strong. I suggest that, with a blind man as
leader, twenty would be a more manageable
maximum.
Sets and Reception.
The quality and volume of the reception
should, of course, be good. Energy must
not be wasted in an effort to distinguish the
actual words of the talk. The B.B.C.
engineers recommend a cone speaker and a
set with an outside aerial, placed as high as
possible, about sixty feet in length. They
have a number of sets which they are willing
to lend to new groups until they can purchase
one of their own.
If a blind man is leading a group containing
seeing members it would be well for him to
BEACON
remember to arrange the group so that
they can all see the loud-speaker. Though
it may seem odd, seeing people apparently
like to look at the thing to which they are
listening.
There are many other small points, such
as lighting, care of the set, quiet and
accessible premises, accommodation for
possible guides, etc., which need not be
laboured here.
Literature.
Those who have had experience of dis-
cussion-group work all recommend that,
where a pamphlet is issued with a series,
this should be studied by every member of
the group, both before the series begins and
concurrently with it. A new type of pam-
phlet is to appear next session, taking the form
of an introductory essay on the subject of
the series, and this will probably be of some
permanent value. It would be of great help
to blind listeners if arrangements could be
made to issue the pamphlets in Braille
simultaneously with the ink-print edition,
or, at any rate, well before the talks begin.
With each pamphlet will be found a list
of books, and leaders are advised to read
one or two of these in preparation for the
talks. They will give him a background of
knowledge upon which to draw if necessary.
The Listener reprints most of the talks,
and these should be read before each meeting
to refresh the memories of the group upon
what they heard last week. This would
necessitate an all-blind group finding a
reader. The Listener also has a correspond-
ence column in which listeners can voice
their opinions.
Co-Operation.
Finally, the B.B.C. lay great stress upon
the need for co-operation. " Write to us,"
they say. " Let us know your difficulties
and what you are doing and what you
want." Every letter, however trivial,
receives a reply. Questions, criticisms,
suggestions, reports of group meetings, all
are welcome at Savoy Hill, and receive full
attention. Only in this way can they know
how their work is prospering and how it can
be improved. " Do not," said Mr. C. A.
Siepmann, " think of us as a great impersonal
organisation with which you can make no
contact ; think of us as human, fellow-
workers with you, ready to hear your
opinions, always to consider them, and
sometimes to act upon them." One came
PAGE
208
away from the conference feeling that the
B.B.C. officials, and the ideals for which they
stand, deserve the heartiest backing that the
Nation can give them.
RECENT
PUBLICATIONS
"Darley Steps."
Readers of The New Beacon are familiar
with some of Mr. C. R. Allen's verse and will
be interested in the new volume from his pen
entitled " Darley Steps," and published by
the Authors' Press, London and Henley-on-
Thames, price 3s. 6d. The poems are
dedicated by permission to Sir James Barrie,
and consist for the most part of lyrics, though
" Darley Steps," from which the book takes
its name, is a longer narrative poem.
Mr. Allen is a lover of nature, and peoples
his countryside with shy woodland creatures
and fairies, living, we are told, " an acorn's
throw from Brighton Way that leads to
London town." There is an attractive
effortlessness about his verse, and his
rhyming is musical : —
" David the miller of starlight sold
Bushel on bushel of powdered gold
To the cunning seraphs whom God had told
To gild the gorse in May."
" Fruit-netting " gives a vivid picture of a
blind man at work in a factory in the gloom
of a winter day, his hands moving mechanic-
ally at his monotonous task — " Broken his
nails, and marred his clawing fingers " —
while his spirit is far away, back in boyhood
days when the " sun-sweet netting " fell on
his shoulder as he sat on the cherry tree
branch, and played with his sweetheart.
Mr. Allen sums up his outlook as a poet
in " A Singer of Songs " : —
" If the singer of songs would have happiness
rare
Let him fashion his verse far away from the
thunder
Of cities and multitudes. Safe in his lair
Let him fashion his song, all his cunning
employ,
And there with his lute he will taste of
pure joy,
Joy in the singing,
Happiness bringing,
Though there be not a soul who shall listen
and wonder."
BEACON
HOME NEWS
Number of Free Wireless Licences Issued to the Blind.
Up to the end of last June the total number of free wireless licences issued to the
blind was 24,074.
The Value of White Sticks ; the Deaf and Wireless.
Two items of interest reach us from the Barclay Workshops. One is that some
of the Barclay Workshop Girls who are using white sticks say that since they have had
them they are able to get to work in a quarter of the time. The other is that a
Barclay woman who has been almost totally deaf for many years is able to enjoy to the
full her wireless set, hearing the programmes far better than she can hear the voices
of those speaking to her.
Opening of New Home for the Blind at Leicester.
The new Hospital and Home of Rest for the blind of Leicester in Gedding Road,
were opened last month by the Duke of Rutland, with the Lord Mayor (Councillor
H. Carver) in the chair.
The Hospital and Home have been named after Mr. and Mrs. Crew, who have done
so much for the blind in Leicester. The entire cost — about £6,000 — was raised by
Mrs. Whiley, who was prevented by illness from attending the ceremony. The Rev. J.
Gibbons, pastor of Melbourne Hall, acted for her and dedicated the building. Canon
F. R. C. Payne also took part in the ceremony, and the key to open the building was
presented to the Duke by Mr. S. N. Smith, the architect. Memorial plates were also
unveiled by the Duke in the hall after the opening ceremony.
The Duke of Rutland, before unlocking the door, congratulated the Wycliffe
Society on having promoted the scheme for building such a handsome and pleasant
building for blind people.
A Royal Souvenir for Newington House, Edinburgh.
Their Majesties the King and Queen have signed an enlarged photograph of them-
selves with the blind ex-Service men from Newington House, Edinburgh, taken when
the men were entertained to lunch at Holyroodhouse on July 12th last. The photograph
will be hung in Newington House to commemorate an interesting event.
New Retail Store Opened by Henshaw's Institution.
The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Manchester (Alderman G. F. Titt and
Mrs. Titt) yesterday made the first purchase at a new retail store at All Saints' which
has been established by Henshaw's Institution for the Blind for the sale of goods made
at the Henshaw Workshops. The new store is to take the place of the shop in Deansgate,
where the sales have not greatly exceeded £1,000 a year. This figure, said Councillor
Mathewson Watson, did not compare very favourably with that of Birmingham, where
the retail sales of articles made by blind workers amounted to about £8,000 a year.
A turnover of £5,000 a year as a beginning at the new shop would assure its success.
Declaring the new store open, the Lord Mayor said he had been particularly struck
by the quality of the work which the blind people in the Henshaw Works turned out.
The furniture which they made in the department opened about 18 months ago was
quite equal in quality and workmanship to that made by sighted workers, a fact which
said a great deal for the training that was given to the blind workers at the Institution.
Expressing the hope that the removal of the shop to new quarters would increase
the sales to a figure comparable with that of Birmingham, the Lord Mayor said that
to buy at the Institution's shop was not charity. It certainly helped to keep the
workshops busy and to give employment to blind workers, but the buyer got value
for his money.
PAGE
209
BEACON
FOREIGN NEWS
Braille Edition of " The Outlook for the Blind."
A Braille edition of " The Outlook for the Blind," published by the American
Foundation for the Blind, is to be published, beginning with the current issue. It is
somewhat in the nature of an experiment to determine the extent of the demand ;
should a sufficient interest be shown, its publication will be continued. The subscription
price is 40 cents per annum.
New Braille Monthly Literary Magazine.
A new monthly Braille magazine, " The Braille Book Review," is to appear early
this autumn, sponsored by the New York Public Library and the American Braille
Press. Its object is to stimulate interest in embossed reading matter. It will contain
reviews and announcements of new books, announcements relative to printing presses
and libraries, occasional sketches of living authors and other items likely to create
interest in the world of books.
Message from the Blind Youth of America to English Blind Youth.
The girls and boys of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind,
Overbrook, Philadelphia, Pa., have sent the following message to the students of schools
for the blind in England : —
" The blind youth of America have a mutual tie with the sightless young people
of England. May we not strengthen this bond by learning more about each other ?
Can we not have a student from one or several of your schools write letters to us about
your institutions of learning, manners and customs, while we, in our turn, will write
to you of our school life and customs in America ? If we can have an interchange of
correspondence, we shall learn to know and understand each other better. Perhaps,
before many more years, when airplane transportation has become much less expensive,
you may fly over to Philadelphia to participate in a ' track meet ' or some other
competitive sport.
" The young people of the world to-day will be the leaders of the world to-morrow.
If the youth of the countries of the world have a better understanding of each other,
will not the leaders of to-morrow be able to direct international affairs in a much more
intelligent, peaceful and satisfactory way than heretofore ?
" We, the students of the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the
Blind, sincerely long for that faith and trust among all nations which shall draw them
together in a universal cause, the brotherhood of man and the betterment of humanity."
New York's Din Bewilders the Blind.
Blind children in New York often cannot learn to walk because of the traffic and
other noises of the metropolis. This is one strange fact that emerges from a survey
by the City Health Officer of the effect of city noises on the 5,580 blind people of New
York. The din of the city, it has been discovered, drowns the sound of a blind man's
footsteps, by which he is ordinarily guided, and leaves him lost and bewildered.
Committee to Honour the Memory of Charles Barbier.
A Committee has recently been formed by M. Paul Remy, at Champigny, to honour
the memory of Charles Barbier, the French artillery officer who was the originator of
the embossed system that formed the basis upon which Louis Braille worked. The
name of Braille is known throughout the world, and that of Barbier is practically
forgotten ; it is a generous impulse that prompts M. Remy to remind the blind of their
debt to Braille's forerunner.
Barbier's system, like that of Braille, was arbitrary, and was based on a set of
twelve dots, from which a very large number of combinations could be obtained by
changes in number and position. The system was phonetic, and Barbier was constantly
PAGE
210
BEACON
making changes in it, which were by no means conducive to simplicity, and must have
made it very difficult to learn ; but whatever may be said in criticism of it, the fact
remains that it was the foundation on which Louis Braille built. Braille never repudiated
his debt to Barbier, but always acknowledged it loyally ; yet we are told that Barbier
died in 1840 a disappointed man, little guessing that his system, which he termed
" Writing of the Night," was to be the cornerstone of so great a structure. Thirty
years were still to run before Braille would come into its own.
CORRESPONDENCE
To the Editor.
William Wolstenholme.
Sir, — By way of supplement to Mr-
Sinclair Logan's wholly admirable apprecia-
tion of Wolstenholme, as a man, and as a
musician, it shoiild certainly be recorded
that the first one to take an active part in
getting Wolstenholme's compositions before
the public was Dr. Alfred Hollins, who not
only played them at his recitals but intro-
duced them to Mr. E. H. Le Mare, who
forthwith gave them excellent publicity by
including them in his recital series.
Also it is interesting to note that among
the many letters received by Mr. Wolsten-
holme's sister was one from Sir Edward
Elgar, who spoke most appreciatively of
Wolstenholme's music. Elgar took con-
siderable interest in Wolstenholme when the
latter was at Worcester, and incidentally
he acted as his amanuensis for his Mus. Bac.
examination at Oxford.
Yours, etc.,
London. H. C. Warrilow.
To the Editor.
A Tribute to Hospitals and Homes.
Sir, — Kindly permit me to write a few
words of praise on behalf of our wonderful
voluntary hospitals. My experience as an
indoor patient commenced over 65 years ago.
I can only just recollect being in the child-
ren's ward of University College Hospital,
London ; also the Hospital for Sick Children,
Great Ormond Street, London, W.C. On
December 1st, 1868, I was admitted into the
Edward Ward of St. Thomas' Hospital (old
Surrey Gardens), London, and was under
the care of the late Professor Samuel Solly.
I was then eleven years of age, and the
nurses taught me to read, write and spell.
Miss Florence Nightingale, the Lady of the
Lamp, also assisted the nurses in their
efforts. We had no wireless in the wards in
those far-off days, but plenty of good nurses
and kind medical students. When I was
discharged as cured on November 9th, 1869,
the thought came in my mind that never
again would I receive such kindness. I did
not expect then to find myself in a voluntary
hospital in my 66th year ! When a hospital
patient is also totally deaf he must be a
great trouble to those around him. But
that was not my experience in the Lonsdale
Ward of King's College Hospital, Denmark
Hill, London, S.E., in July, 1923, when I
had to undergo a serious internal operation,
and my life was saved one midnight by the
splendid hospital team. Nor was it my
experience in the Waddington Ward in
July and December, 1924, and again in
May, 1925, for operative treatment on my
eyes, which has saved me from total
blindness. No. The devoted attention of
the surgeons and the nursing staff will ever
live in my memory. The sisters and nurses
of King's College Hospital are splendid. Our
voluntary hospitals are still the wonder and
admiration of the world, and so are the
homes for the blind. I had a very delightful
time in 1925 in the Holiday and Convalescent
Home for the Blind at Quarry Hill, St.
Leonard's-on-Sea, Sussex. It is a beautiful
Home, and the matron, also staff, wonder-
fully kind to the patients. I was admitted
on November 12th, 1925, into the Devonport
Home for the Blind, and am still here.
Friends and employers who helped me in the
past have passed away, and yet I have much
to be thankful for. The matron, Miss
Florence Laishley, also the hon. secretary,
Mr. E. E. Nicholls, of the Devonport and
Western Counties Associations for the Wel-
fare of the Blind, are wonderfully kind to
me, although I am totally deaf and nearly
74 years of age. I thank God, and the
splendid team of King's College, for preventing
me from being totally blind also.
Yours, etc.,
Plymouth. William J. L. Hooper.
PAGE
211
BEACON
EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH IN
AMERICA.
IN a wide sense, the enlightened teacher
in every age has also been a psycholo-
gist, recognising that no two of his
pupils are alike, and learning by
experiment and failure, renewed ex-
periment and final success, to adapt
his teaching to the individual. But
psychology, in a narrower sense, is a young
science, and the application of psychology to
educational problems is something relatively
new.
To the layman there is at the outset some-
thing rather repugnant about the whole
thing ; we dislike to hear people talk glibly
of " low intelligence-quotients " (or even
" low I.Q.'s ") and we vaguely resent the
suggestion that we can be labelled and
classified and popped into the pigeon-hole of
a laboratory. It is a reasonable and healthy
resentment, and Dr. French, Principal of the
Californian School for the Blind, put the
point well when he urged that research, if it
is to be tolerable as well as worth-while,
must observe the common decencies of life,
adding — " A little research is a dangerous
thing, and half-baked conclusions are fatal."
Another American writer, Miss Rocheleau,
emphasises the same point when, writing of
the deaf-blind, she says : — " The usual intelli-
gence-tests . . . should never, never be applied
to deaf-blind children or even adults, as a
foot-rule is applied to lumber," and points
out how essential it is that the child's self-
confidence shall not be carelessly undermined ;
giving a dog a bad name comes dangerously
near hanging where little children are
involved.
American educationists are alive, then, to
the dangers of a mechanical reliance on
psychological tests ; but they are alive, too,
to the changes that have made the world of
to-day an amazingly different place from
that in which our grandparents lived, and
one in which, if our children are to cope at
all successfully with its amazing, ruthless
whirl, they must be equipped with the best
education that we have to offer ; rule of
thumb methods must, as far as possible, be
superseded by scientific ones.
The systematic application of psychology
to education dates from 1904, when M. Binet,
a French psychologist, was invited by the
French Government to draw up some scale
of measurement in order that the intelligence
of school children might be tested, and
proper arrangements made for the segregation
of those of low mentality. In 1905 he
published his first set of tests, and in 1908
and 191 1 revised editions of the tests were
issued.
The tests aroused the interest in America
of Dr. Goddard, of the Training School for
the Feeble-minded, Vinelands, New Jersey,
and he decided to make use of them, with
certain modifications, for the testing of
children in his care. Meetings of education-
ists were held from time to time at Vinelands,
and at one of these it was suggested to
Dr. Burritt, of the Pennsylvania Institution
for the Blind, that the time had come for the
introduction of tests into schools for the
blind. He was much interested, and in 1916
a resident psychologist was appointed at his
school, together with a Director of Research,
in the person of Dr. Samuel Hayes, who has
ever since taken a leading part in educational
research in schools for the blind in America.
At the same time, Dr. Edward Allen, of
the Perkins Institution, whose great work
on behalf of the education of the blind is
already familiar to readers of The New
Beacon, arranged for the appointment of a
psychologist at his school, and the Depart-
ment of Applied Psychology was founded
there. Its aims may be briefly summarised
as follows : — ■
1. The development of methods for testing
the intelligence and school achievement of
blind children.
2. The routine testing of pupils seeking
admission to the school, and their periodic
re-testing at stated intervals.
3. The assistance of teachers in dealing
with " difficult " children.
4. Co-operation with all other institutions
having similar aims.
In 1916, Dr. Hayes carried out intelligence
testing at the Perkins Institution and the
New York State School, Batavia, as well as
at the Pennsylvania Institution, and three
years later, when, in addition to his work at
Pennsylvania, he accepted the post of
Director of Psychological Research at the
Perkins Institution, he arranged to carry out
PAGE
212
BEACON
a further survey of seven schools. The
results of this survey were reported at the
Convention of American Instructors of the
Blind in 1920, and aroused very wide
interest ; a great many teachers were fired
with ambition to carry out similar tests in
their schools, and as it was impossible for
Dr. Hayes and his assistant to pay personal
visits to more than a very few, he issued a
pamphlet on .Self-Surveys, giving instructions
to teachers on the way in which the tests
might be carried out in schools where a
personal visit from a psychologist was
impossible.
The work of Dr. Goddard at Vinelands had
not only aroused the interest of Dr. Burritt
of Pennsylvania, but also that of Mr. Robert
Irwin, another American educationist whose
name will be familiar to many of our readers.
In 1914, Mr. Irwin had attended a Summer
School at Vinelands, and with Dr. Goddard's
help had produced a set of Binet tests
suitable for the blind ; he arranged the whole
collection in year-groups, and made use of
them when complete in various homes for
blind babies, schools for the blind and
classes for the blind in public schools.
Between 1916 and 1923, mental testing
was going on in several schools for the blind,
and by 1923 we are told that tests had been
given to more than twelve hundred blind,
and partially blind, children. It was felt by
Dr. Hayes and Mr. Irwin that the time had
come for a revision of the tests, in the light
of growing experience, and accordingly a
Revised Guide (Irwin-Hayes) was published
in 1923 and a further revision in 1929.
In 1924, the American Foundation for the
Blind began to develop educational research
and appointed a psychologist who had for
five years previously been carrying on work
of the kind at the Perkins Institution. She
devoted herself to various problems, especially
to the adaptation of intelligence-tests to
blind needs, and to the study of the blind
child's reading, but after a time she began
to feel that if her work was to be of practical
use it was essential that new educational
theories should be " tried out " ; laboratory
work alone was not enough, and needed to
be translated into action. An arrangement
was accordingly made, by which the Perkins
Institution co-operated with the American
Foundation for the Blind, and the Lower
School of Perkins (with its 120 children)
was converted into a Department of Special
Studies, where " any and every promising
method is welcomed and put into shapa for
prolonged trial." New methods are not
accepted merely because they are new, nor
the old rejected merely because they are old,
but those at work recognise that on the one
hand quite certainly educational methods
of the past were not perfect, and that on the
other, quite probably " the best is yet to be."
In an article in " The Outlook for the
Blind," Dr. French gives his reasons why
research in schools for the blind is vitally
important, and does so with such conviction
that his summary is worth noting here ; it
is as apposite in schools for the blind on this
side of the Atlantic as on the other.
1. He points out that the education of the
blind requires special technique based on the
muscle and skin senses, and that we need to
study those senses if we are not to make our
education too " visual."
2. The blind child has to live in a world
of seeing people, and we must study how
best to fit him to adapt himself to that world.
3. Blindness often involves physical and
mental complications which must be segre-
gated and understood if the blind child is to
be properly educated.
4. Environment, sleep, lighting, heat and
diet are all subjects that need to be studied
by the educator, and equally he needs to
study the intangible " atmosphere " sur-
rounding his pupil if he is to know when to
hold out the helping hand and when to leave
his charge to risk a fall.
5. Blindness in general does not exist,
but rather " blindnesses " of many kinds
and varying degrees, and procedure must
vary in accordance with such variations.
Dr. French ends his article by pointing
out that up to the present educational
research in America has been fragmentary
and isolated, as indeed all pioneer effort
must be, but he suggests that the time has
come for work " on a national, if not inter-
national, scale." So far, little has been done
in England, but the newly formed Committee
for educational research, under the auspices
of the College of Teachers and the National
Institute for the Blind, holds important
promise for the future. The work already
done in America will be of help to this
Committee, and it is to be hoped that
the day of international co-operation in
matters of such vital importance is not far
off.
PAGE
213
BEACON
SCHOOL FOR MENTALLY RETARDED
BLIND CHILDREN.
THE National Institute for
the Blind have issued the
following particulars re-
lative to the Special
School for Mentally
Retarded Blind Children,
" Court Grange," Abbots-
kerswell, near Newton Abbot, Devon : —
Object.
To provide suitable education for mentally
retarded children who are blind within the
meaning of Section 3 (a) of the Board of
Education Form 40 D and are not certifiable
as mentally defective under the Education
Act, 1921. Cases of physical defect will also
be considered for admission, provided that
they do not require treatment beyond the
capacity of the school to provide.
Applications for admission should be made
to the Secretary-General, National Institute
for the Blind, on Board of Education Forms
306 M and 40 D (and, in case of physical
defect, 40a. D). Pupils are admitted for a
probationary period of three months in the
first instance, and the management reserve
the right to demand the withdrawal of a
pupil should his (or her) presence be detri-
mental to the well-being of the School.
Fees.
The fee of £85 per annum, payable each
term in advance, is inclusive.
An initial payment of £5 for provision of
school uniform is payable on admission.
No charge is made for stationery, books or
other apparatus except for articles constitut-
ing and remaining the personal property of
the pupil.
Accommodation.
There is at present accommodation at the
school for 30 resident pupils (15 boys and
15 girls).
Health Certificates.
Each pupil should furnish a health certifi-
cate on admission (or after absence from the
school on holiday). The medical officer to
the school will examine each new pupil as
early as possible after arrival at Court Grange
and periodically thereafter.
PAGE
214
Holidays.
It is expected that pupils will return to
their homes during school holidays. Where
desirable, arrangements will be made by the
matron for pupils to remain at Newton Abbot
during the holidays.
General Regulations.
Visits are made by arrangement with the
head master. Parents or guardians will be
welcome at any time which does not interfere
with school hours. Pupils may go out with
their parents or guardians on Saturday
afternoons or Sundays, and with friends of
the parents, if permission has been given
in writing to the head master by the parents,
upon whom the responsibility falls.
Arrangements will be made, if required,
to escort pupils to and from London by a
specified train on the days preceding and
following the first and last day of term.
Correspondence regarding admissions and
fees should be sent to the Secretary-General,
National Institute for the Blind.
All communications relative to health,
visits, clothes, etc., should be sent to the
head master.
Staff.
The School will be under the management
of the National Institute for the Blind, and
the officers appointed are as follows : —
Head Master : Mr. C. E. Spurgeon.
Senior Mistress : Miss M. McConnochie.
Matron : Miss M. Davis.
Medical Consultant : E. D. Macnamara,
M.D., F.R.C.S.
Medical Officers. — Hon. Medical Officer :
G. M. Tanner, M.A., M.B., B.Ch.
Hon. Ophthalmic Surgeon : D. Wilson,
M.B..B.S. (Lond.).
Hon. Dental Surgeons : H. Dagger, L.D.S.,
R.C.S., and H. S. R. Sellar, L.D.S., R.C.S.
The term begins on September 15th, and
the following dates are proposed for the
current school year : —
Autumn term — September 15th to
December 21st (inclusive).
Spring term, 1932 — January 12th to
March 22nd (inclusive).
c^7ficD\fcw
Published by ■/ L /A I I 1 X. Editorial Offices:
the National f^V |^ /"A I I I X 224 Gjeat Por'"
/nsff/u/e V II / % \ ,\ / ^J land Street,
the Blind K_J M-^l W J V^_^ 1 ^| London, W.\.
T
WIRELESS AND ADULT EDUCATION.
^ HE value of wireless as a means of self-education amongst the adult blind
has not yet been generally realised. In April we gave information as to
the B.B.C. Area Councils and the necessary procedure for the formation
of Discussion Groups, also suggesting the possibility of issuing Talks and
Lecture Programmes in Braille, should there be any demand for them.
In the same month, the National Institute for the Blind sent a circular
letter to Voluntary Institutions and Clubs for the Blind asking whether
the blind in each specific area were interested in wireless as a means of education, whether
Discussion Groups had been formed or encouraged, and whether there would be a demand
for the B.B.C. booklets or for The Listener in Braille.
The answers received to the questionnaire are mainly very disappointing, and judging
from them it is evident that the blind generally are not yet interested in the educational
possibilities of wireless, that Discussion Groups have not been formed, that no blind people
have expressed the desire to join existing Discussion Groups of sighted people, and that the
encouragement of Discussion Groups amongst the blind is considered by the officials of
Institutions to be not practicable. On the other hand, there seems to be a fairly general
desire for Braille editions of B.B.C. pamphlets and The Listener provided they are not too
expensive. The apparent reasons for this depressing lack of interest are as follows : A great
number of the blind people dealt with by Local Associations are too old to be interested in
anything educational ; the lack of guides and suitable transport are serious obstacles ; blind
people who are working all day are too tired in the evening to care for anything but the re-
creational side of wireless ; blind people do not consider blindness in itself a sufficient link for
the formation of a Discussion Group amongst themselves.
Each of these reasons may be sufficiently strong in itself to prevent the formation of a
Discussion Group in a particular district, but we think that each of them is akin to the reasons
which are always given by conservative thinkers against any new suggestion. It is obvious
that each of them could be overcome by a little enterprise, particularly on the part of Social
Clubs for the Blind. Hardworked officials are not the best people to initiate a new experiment,
and the suggestion to form a Discussion Group should be made to the blind concerned by
individuals who are not only fully competent to make a success of the idea, but have the will
and the enthusiasm to do so.
It is encouraging to know that the officials of the B.B.C. are extremely keen on promoting
Discussion Groups amongst the blind, and that they are doing their best, whenever the occasion
arises, to introduce the idea of Discussion Groups and to help practically in their establishment
and to promote their growth. We understand that since the questionnaire was sent out by
the National Institute one or two Groups are being formed, and we hope that the formation
of these Groups will be the thin edge of the wedge in promoting an ambition amongst blind
people of all classes to make full uses of the unique facilities afforded by wireless for systematic
study in many subjects of fascinating and practical interest.
Mr. W. H. Coates, a blind man, attended the Summer School held by the B.B.C. at Oxford
for the training of Discussion Group leaders, and his experiences are given in the leading article
of this issue of The New Beacon. It will be seen that he came away filled with enthusiasm.
He is in favour of Groups consisting of both blind and sighted people and considers that in
group listening " blind people all over the country have a magnificent opportunity. Here is
scope for their initiative and their energy. If they are sincere in their wish to pull their weight
and be good citizens, this is the very thing for them."
We heartily endorse Mr. Coates's opinion. The British Wireless for the Blind Fund has
nearly succeeded in its object of providing all blind people with wireless sets, and we firmly
believe that in the minds of those who initiated the Fund was the intention to provide
the blind not merely with a means of amusement for leisure hours but with a means of
developing knowledge and sustaining mental abilities. The Editor.
page
215
BEACON
THE ESPERANTO CONGRESS.
(August ist to 8th.)
CRACOW, the scene of this
year's Congress, is a town
of historic associations and
with many interesting and
well preserved old build-
ings in that part of Poland
formerly under Austrian
rule, where the life — at least, the town life —
is German, rather than eastern, in character.
Yet in the mornings you see the barefooted
peasant women selling their country produce
in the market-square and tripping home-
wards at a good round pace with heavy
bundles on their backs over rough cobble-
stones which are tiring enough even to the
well-shod pedestrian. Taxis and motor-
coaches there are, but the town is still full
of droshkys, whose drivers, arrayed in very
tight trousers, usually white with a dark line
down the outside of each leg, will take you
quite a long way for sixpence if you do not
excite their cupidity by offering more.
Our first impression of the place was one
of hospitality and comfort. Esperantists
met us at the station at six in the morning
and drove us in a taxi to our well-appointed
hotel to catch up some of the sleep we had
missed in our thirty-six hours' journey, for
we were not like one of our party, who
climbed on to the parcels rack and vowed he
slept soundly all night long above our heads.
I imagine that about one thousand
Esperantists were present at the Congress,
including some two hundred of the towns-
folk who, having received only ten lessons in
Esperanto during the previous three weeks
from the gifted teacher, Father Che, had yet
gained enough confidence in using the
language to show us about their town,
translate menus and extricate us from any
difficulties due to our ignorance of Polish.
These people certainly did credit to their
teacher and showed that with a will to work
it is possible to gain a useful knowledge of
Esperanto in a very short time.
In the blind section of the Congress we had
only nine blind Esperantists and a few
seeing friends interested in blind affairs.
Those of them who so desired had free
quarters in a new and well arranged students'
hostel. The small number of members from
abroad did not surprise me, considering the
PAGE
216
By W. PERCY MERRICK.
hard times now prevailing throughout
Europe, and also, because the Esperantists
are to meet next year in Paris, for which
many, both blind and seeing, are already
trying to save up. But I was disappointed
to find only three Polish members, for I
understand that Esperanto is taught in all
four blind schools in the country. I was told,
however, that in spite of the existence of the
schools, the condition of the blind in Poland
is one of extreme poverty, and very few
could have found money enough to pay the
railway fare, while those who had occupations
could not spare the time. I think the only
blind men I met in Poland who had made
good in business or professions were Jews,
educated at the Jewish Blind School in
Vienna, but another young man from the
same school told me that on leaving it he
had to return to his native Polish village,
where the post comes once a week, and where
the only work he can do is occasionally to
make a few baskets for the peasants, who
pay for them with a pint of wheat. The
country is poor and the people have neither
time nor money to devote to the blind. As a
blind German professor afterwards said to
me, " Life is much easier among rich neigh-
bours than among poor ones."
Our small party could, of course, do little
in the way of " business," though we much
enjoyed one another's society and that of
our seeing Esperantist friends.
On our way home we met in Berlin several
friends who had come in contact with the
deputation from the National Union of the
Professional and Industrial Blind some
months ago, to the members of which they
sent kindly greetings. They told me that
many of the blind there are still working
in industry, mainly owing to the percentage
law, but that others are sharing in the general
unemployment, because so many factories
have had to close. Indeed, the great
majority of the factory chimneys we passed
on our way through Germany were smoke-
less.
Although Greater Berlin has four million
inhabitants, it seems to be an easier place
for blind people to get about in than London.
Some, like Mr. Hasselbach, go all over the
city without any guidance, but most of our
BEACON
friends had their guiding dogs, and said
would never be without them.
One or two little incidents gave us the
impression that both in Poland and Germany
the public shows less consideration to blind
travellers than in England, though this does
not apply to officials on railways and public
conveyances, who are most helpful.
We spent the last week-end of our trip in
a German provincial town as the guests of a
distinguished blind linguist. In his youth
he had studied languages in the hope of
becoming a university professor, but this was
barred by his blindness, so, having obtained
his doctorate, he began to teach English,
French and Spanish in his own town, and
has maintained himself and his family in
comfort ever since. His success is un-
doubtedly due to his charming personality,
which makes his classes so popular, and his
thorough and practical knowledge of his
subjects, which has enabled his pupils to do
well in examinations and to make good use
of the languages he has taught them. I
cannot help thinking that the achievements
of such a man suggest that modern language
teaching, if properly prepared for, ought to
be definitely added to the professions prac-
tised by the blind.
The finishing touch to our interesting and
enjoyable holiday was given by the customs
official at Harwich who, seeing our Congress
badges, gave us a friendly greeting in
Esperanto.
THE JUBILEE OF "PROGRESS."
WORKERS for the blind
are for the most part
rather ignorant of the
contents of periodicals
in Braille type, and as
it is now just fifty years
since Dr. Armitage first
published Progress, it is perhaps a fitting
occasion to give readers of The New Beacon
some account of the contents of its Braille
contemporary.
There are probably few periodicals which,
in proportion to their circulation, have so
wide a circle of readers. Rather over fifteen
hundred copies are published monthly, and
of these about a hundred and eighty are sent
overseas ; a number go to Australia, Canada,
India, the United .States and South Africa ;
there are readers in most European countries,
including France, Germany, Italy, Holland,
Norway, Poland and Spain, while China,
Japan, Palestine, Syria and Fiji are also
represented.
It is a magazine that has no special axe to
grind, and it attempts to reach the blind
man in the street, trying to give him articles
and stories that are well but popularly
written ; it seeks to interest a type of
reader who may find The Literary Journal
too exclusively literary, or The Braille
Mail too purely a newspaper, but who
wants to know something of what is happen-
ing in the blind world, who takes an interest
in current questions of the day, provided the
articles on them are not too technical, and
who enjoys a good story.
In order that readers may be kept in
touch with the social and political happenings
around them, a new feature has recently
been added to Progress in the form of an
editorial, " From Week to Week," giving
a brief summary of the events of the past
month, both here and overseas. Unfortun-
ately, in a world that rushes along very
breathlessly, the summary is apt to be out
of date by the time it appears. " A Cabinet
Committee has been set up to consider the
Report of the Economy Committee and it is
not unlikely that the Cabinet will be sharply
divided over the subject " was stale reading
when it appeared in Progresss rather more
than a week later, for already the Labour
Cabinet had been superseded by the
National Government. But this is a difficulty
by no means peculiar to Braille papers.
A short story is included in each month's
issue, written, if possible, by such a recog-
nised master of the short story as Aumonier,
Percival Gibbon, W. W. Jacobs or O. Henry ;
short stories of suitable length (they must
not exceed three or four thousand words) are
not easy to find, as the thrilling detective
story or good adventure tale is almost always
too long, and the slight psychological sketch,
PAGE
217
BEACON
of the type written by Katherine Mansfield,
hardly suitable for a magazine that is
definitely popular in its appeal. It is
difficult, sometimes, to overcome the tempta-
tion to print a good story regardless of its
length, but to do so would mean the cutting
down of other equally important features.
Three or four general articles follow, one
often semi-political, but selected on account
of its impartiality — " The Irwin-Gandhi
Agreement," recently reprinted from The
Spectator is typical — and another dealing
with travel or foreign customs. " The
Glamour of San Francisco," by J. B.
Priestley, and " The Rug-makers of Persia,"
by Miss Sackville West, are recent examples
of the latter, while it was with some pride
that Progress reprinted in its July issue
Mr. Courtauld's copyright story of his
solitary adventures in the Arctic, by special
permission of the editor of The Times.
Probably readers of Progress alone were
privileged to share with readers of The
Times in that wonderful story of endurance
and cheerful courage.
A popular article that will appeal to the
less literary reader is generally included.
" Are the Bugginses True to Life ? " by their
creator, Miss Constanduros, is an example
of this lighter touch, and one that makes a
special appeal to that very large section
of readers who listen in. A short poem,
generally selected from one of the fairly
modern anthologies, generally completes this
section of the magazine.
" The Question Box " follows, and
although the space it takes up is small, the
heart-searching it causes in preparation is
out of all proportion to the result ; questions
dealing with the duties of the Junior Lord
of the Treasury, the area in which the
nightingale may be heard, the Great Wall of
China, the most judicious investment for the
small investor and the verification of the
sources of many poems all take time ; some-
times the editor is baffled (the heights of
each member of the Royal family proved
too much for him), but on the whole
Whitaker's Almanack, The Encyclopaedia
Britannica, Dr. Brewer's " Phrase and Fable,"
and a good stock of patience suffice to over-
come most problems presented.
Part of the magazine is given up to corre-
spondence, and animated discussions on the
White Stick controversy, uniform Braille and
questions relating to sports for the blind have
recently filled its pages. " Matters of the
Moment " contains notices of interest to
readers, offers of exchange of magazines,
interchange of addresses for those who desire
foreign correspondents, accounts of meetings
and social gatherings of the blind and
interesting achievements of blind people all
over the world.
The prize competition is always a popular
feature and proves that readers of " Progress "
have as ready a wit as other magazine
competitors ; a recent competition, asking
for a list of possible ideal marriages, produced
an alliance between King Alfred and Mrs.
Beeton, while the first line of a Limerick
beginning " There was a young man of
North Wales " was topically continued by a
competitor as follows : —
There was a young man of North Wales
Who went hiking o'er mountains and dales,
He used up some leather
{Yes, indeed, and whateffer),
Till nothing was left but the nails."
The copy ends with " Nuggets," a collec-
tion of short, humorous stories, schoolboy
howlers, anecdotes of celebrities and so
forth.
Two supplements (apart from the
Announcements supplement of new pub-
lications) accompany each number of
Progress ; one of these is devoted to
Chess and the other to Home Occupations,
and consists of knitting patterns, household
hints, cookery recipes and descriptions of
possible pastime handicrafts.
In order to celebrate the jubilee of
Progress a competition was set last
month entitled "If I Were Editor," and
some valuable suggestions for improvements
were received, which it is hoped to put into
practice in due course. But from the
editorial point of view, one satisfactory thing
emerged from the competition ; on the whole
Progress readers are well satisfied. Perhaps
one letter received during the last few
weeks might be quoted : — " As it is
Progresss jubilee, I should like to take
this opportunity of speaking a few words
of appreciation and gratitude for all it has
meant to me, and thousands of others.
When we consider its limited space and yet
how much it contains that suits the needs
of all its readers we are astounded. To me
it is like a dear old friend."
PAGE
218
BEACON
THE CHURCH AS A CAREER FOR
BLIND MEN.
By Canon C. E. BOLAM, F.R.Hist.S.,
Hon. Chief Chaplain, National Institute for the Blind.
THE Editor has asked me
to write an article under
the above title and I
gladly accede to his re-
quest. At the same time
I approach the subject
with considerable hesita-
tion and I am not quite sure whether I
quite like the title. To talk of " going
into the Church," is a loose and inaccurate
phrase. What is really meant, of course,
is " taking Holy Orders." Further, " taking
Holy Orders " should, I think, be looked
upon as a calling and not a career, so,
having cleared the ground, let us come
to the real question. Is it desirable and
possible to encourage totally blind men to
seek Holy Orders ?
This is an important question and I feel
strongly that it is my duty as Chief Chaplain
of a great National Institution to give
the matter careful attention. My work
does not consist (in my view) merely in
supervising money raising activities by
means of sermons and recitals, but also in
exploring all avenues by which advice and
assistance can be given to the blind in
matters directly or indirectly connected
with my particular department. There are
two questions that call for consideration : —
(i) The immediate question before us,
in this article ;
(2) The placement and assistance of blind
men when they have taken Orders.
In this article I propose to deal only
with the first question. In the first place
let us see what are the principal qualifica-
tions requisite for any man, sighted or blind,
with regard to " Ordination."
He must feel that he has received a call
from God to this work — it is a spiritual
charge, the care of souls given by the
Chief Shepherd, and where this sense of
vocation is absent disaster must follow.
To seek Holy Orders merely as a possible
career is, in my view, a wrong and unjusti-
fiable act. In support of my view I would
refer the reader to The Charge given by the
Bishop in the Ordering of Priests (Book of
Common Prayer). I quote only a few
lines here.
" And now again we exhort you, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you
have in remembrance, into how high a
dignity, and to how a weighty an office
and charge ye are called ; that is to say,
to be messengers, watchmen and stewards
of the Lord ; to teach and to premonish,
to feed and provide for the Lord's family ;
to seek for Christ's sheep that are dispersed
abroad, and for his children who are in the
midst of this naughty world, that they may
be saved, through Christ, for ever."
Again, he must be qualified intellectually
and must, of course, be able to pass the
necessary tests. It is particularly urgent,
that, in these days, a high standard of
intellectual ability should be demanded
by the Bishop. When we come to consider
the question of ordination for totally blind
men we come to rather a thorny question.
There is no doubt that the Bishops are
very reluctant to ordain in this case and,
personally, I think their reluctance is
reasonable. Some of the Bishops may base
their refusal on an old Canon law which
insists on physical fitness, but I do not
think that this argument weighs very heavily
to-day ; again, we want to remember that
it is difficult for a bishop to realise the capa-
bilities of a blind man. It is only intimate
knowledge of the blind that dispels the belief
that they are more or less helpless. Again,
the bishop is, to some extent, responsible
for the future of the man he ordains, and
he knows the difficulty which a blind man
experiences in getting a curacy or a living.
The present position is, I understand,
that the bishops are advised to consult
the Archbishop of Canterbury before accept-
ing blind men for Orders. What is wanted,
in my opinion, is some liaison between the
Archbishop and my own department of the
National Institute. With our knowledge
of the blind we might, I think, give valuable
assistance to the Archbishop and Bishops
PAGE
219
BEACON
and thereby ensure that suitable blind men
are accepted for ordination and assisted
afterwards by way of placement. I am
hoping shortly to have the opportunity
of discussing the matter with the Arch-
bishop.
I am convinced that the right kind of
blind man makes a thoroughly efficient
parish priest, and that there are no difficulties
that he cannot surmount ; the people are
always ready to help him. During a long
experience (over thirty years) of parish
work, and during five years of hospital
and camp work during the war, I have found
that my own disability of defective sight
has been, in many ways, rather a help than
a hindrance. It brings out the best in
other people and certainly establishes a
bond of sympathy, for everybody is up
against something in one way or another.
There is one very real danger to be guarded
against, the danger of a blind man seeking
Orders as one of the few careers open to
him. We must be satisfied that the blind
man seeks Orders because he feels a definite
call to spiritual work and not because it is
a possible " job " open to him. He must
be thoroughly self-reliant and capable. He
will, for instance, get about his church and
parish alone, and, of course, administer
Communion efficiently. Clumsy and help-
less blind men prejudice the sighted against
blind clergy, and make it more difficult
for really first-class men to obtain Ordina-
tion.
Bearing in mind the need for more clergy
and the greatly improved means of education
and training of the blind, I maintain that
the right kind of blind man ought to be,
and will be, accepted for Orders, and I shall
use all the influence of my department
to assist such a man.
I hope this article will evoke some corre-
spondence and some helpful criticism and
thereby strengthen our hands in our effort
on behalf of the blind with regard to this
question of Orders.
METHODS OF REMUNERATION.
IV.
By BEN PURSE.
IT will already be obvious to most
readers that the methods of remunera-
tion we are endeavouring to describe,
whilst having certain salient features
in common, differ so widely in other
essential characteristics as to make
comparison very difficult. So far as
we have proceeded, it will be agreed that
each organisation in the methods of remuner-
ation applied possesses some distinctive
advantage over the rest, and were it possible
to bring into one common wage system those
outstanding characteristics, we are doubtful
even then if the ideal could be reached.
When one is attempting to assess the
comparative methods and systems in opera-
tion, regard must be paid to the capacity
of the respective organisations to comply
with demands that are not determined on a
pure economic basis. Some agencies have
greater financial resources at their disposal
than others, and if charity means anything
at all it is legitimate to assume that the
disposition of the wealthy organisation will
PAGE
220
be reflected in the conditions meted out to
its employees. So many factors have to be
considered when these assessments are being
made, that anything in the nature of hasty
generalisations are apt to be positively
harmful, so that the greatest care must be
exercised when presenting our survey not
to dogmatise unduly or to show a preference
that does not rest upon solid foundations.
When discussing these problems we are
often disposed to exalt certain charac-
teristics which make a strong appeal to us,
regardless of the fundamental differences
which exist as between localities and the
industrial pursuits that are practised there,
and nowadays rateable values obtaining in
the various areas are having a bearing on
this subject and apparently will continue
to exercise still greater influences upon
standards of life, so long as real wages
constitute but a part of the remuneration
claimed by blind workers.
There is something of value to be said in
favour of those employment agencies where
BEACON
economic earnings constitute by far the most
important item on the pay-sheet, as for
example, is the case with the Blind Employ-
ment Factory under the control of the
Leatherhead Institution. In our last article
we adduced evidence of this fact, not by
minimising the value of the charitable under-
taking, but by emphasising the importance
of the wage-earning factor as a stabilising
quantity in the social and industrial life of
the worker. As we then indicated, this
employment agency is in reality what it
claims to be, a society for affording remunera-
tive employment to the blind and guaran-
teeing to them that their handicap will be
taken account of in wage regulations by a
reasonable assessment of the disability. If
we may presume to say so, this fundamental
principle should never be lost sight of by any
kindred organisation if it desires to be
anything more than a poor-law relief agency.
As we write, we have before us a record of
one of the best-known and certainly one of
the best-equipped training and employment
agencies in Britain. We refer to the Notting-
ham Institution.
This organisation was founded in 1843,
and for many years it has continued to
receive blind persons for training from all
parts of England and Wales. No survey of
this problem would be in any sense complete
which failed to take account of the activities
and enterprise of such an agency. Unlike
many institutions, the Nottingham Society
has been blessed during a succession of years
with an able and enlightened administration ;
its officers have been and are men with
progressive minds, alert and interested, and
this attitude is reflected in all the trans-
actions of the undertaking.
We must look in detail at the system in
operation there in order to understand and
appreciate some of the difficulties that have
to be encountered in propounding systems
of wage payments. Such an examination
will repay us amply for the time so expended.
We are in agreement with the point of
view of the Secretary of the Institution when
he observes that in considering the possi-
bilities of a uniform system of remuneration
for trained blind workers, it has often been
stated by persons of long experience, who
are well able to advise in such matters, that
any such scheme should include three main
principles, viz. : —
1. The payment of standard rates of
wages where possible, and, for work where
such rates do not exist, an agreed rate
should be paid based on the commercial
value of the work done.
2. The payment of an adequate aug-
mentation of the actual wages earned, as
compensation for the disability of blind-
ness.
3. Such further assistance as may be
necessary in cases where the actual wages
earned, together with the augmentation,
are insufficient for the proper maintenance
of the persons concerned.
The method of payment at the Royal
Midland Institution for the Blind, Notting-
ham, is mainly based on this system. It is
contended that there is much in this method
which might well be recommended as a
model scheme. Such a scheme may be as
elastic as the generosity of the authorities
or the funds available will permit.
Critics have said that the system is faulty
because it seeks to pile subsidy upon sub-
sidy, rendering the arrangements unneces-
sarily complicated when a clear and simple
device would be to so subsidise earnings as
to secure a minimum income for all workers ;
but this brings us back to the inherent
weaknesses of all systems based upon
minimum wages, and leads to the presump-
tion that income and not production is the
real determining factor of the situation.
It will be agreed, however, by all who have
the merest smattering of elementary econo-
mics, that such theories are difficult to
maintain in a world whose activities must
depend upon the productivity of its inhabi-
tants.
Ruskin in " Modern Painters " says :
" What length and severity of labour may be
ultimately found necessary for the procuring
of the due comforts of life, I do not know ;
neither what degree of refinement it is
possible to unite with the so-called servile
occupations of life ; but this I know, that
right economy of labour will, as it is under-
stood, assign to each man as much as will be
healthy for him, and no more ; and that no
refinements are desirable which cannot be
connected with toil."
The Nottingham system seeks to assert
the principle that the remuneration to be
paid must form a reasonable and relative
share of the total amount paid to each worker
PAGE
221
BEACON
week by week, so that the proper equilibrium
may be maintained as between real wages
and charity. This institution employs 82
workers, and although the industrial depres-
sion has been felt and is still most acute in
Nottingham, the workers have been main-
tained in full employment for many years
past. Last year the value of the goods sold
amounted to £23,061.
We have often said when analysing wages
that merely to quote averages cannot but
be misleading ; for the purpose of strengthen-
ing our contention, by the kind permission
of the management we are able to quote
figures, giving the wages for a full week's
work in each department. These figures have
been taken at random, so that in no sense do
they represent carefully selected periods.
It is perhaps necessary to observe that the
figures include economic earnings and sub-
sidies.
Basket making : 48s. yd., 45s. yd.,
44s. 5d., 44s., 45s. 8d., 42s. 8d., 41s. yd.,
39s. 9d., 38s. id., 36s. 6d., 36s. 2d.
Brush making : 53s. ud., 51s. 4d., 47s. 2d.,
36s. yd., 50s., 47s. 6d., 45s. 2d., 41s., 38s. 3d.,
40s., 44s. 8d., 41s. 8d., 36s., 35s. 8d., 40s. id.,
34s. ud., 40s. 5d., 34s. 3d., 37s. 2d., 33s. 6d.,
32s. 2d., 28s. gd., 30s., 30s. ud.
Brush making (women) : 32s. 6d., 31s. 2d.,
25s., 28s. 4d., 32s. 6d., 26s. 6d., 29s. 7d., 23s.
Mat making : 50s. 9d., 40s. 2d., 44s. 3d.,
39s., 38s. 2d., 45s., 30s. 2d., 29s. 5d., 36s. 2d.,
35s. 7d., 24s.
Machine knitters: 35s. 8d., 35s. 4d., 29s. 8d.
Other workers : 70s., 55s., 42s., 41s. 6d..
35s. 6d., 35s.
We have already emphasised the futility
of drawing conclusions from so-called average
wages. This list, ranging as it does from
20s. 1 id. to 70s., supplies the necessary proof,
if such were needed, and accounts for the
varying conditions in productive capacity,
physical health, age incidence, etc.
Under this scheme the actual wages earned
last year are very creditable, and may be
taken as a compliment to the workers, viz.: —
Wages at standard rates £4,435 7 4
Augmentation, holiday
allowances, etc. .. 2,882 7 11
National Health and Un-
employment insurance 347 17 6
One other brief reference to the facilities
provided for holidays will be of interest to
our readers. The board of management of
the institution, with the consent of the
workers, arranges to set aside is. per week
for each employee, a like contribution is
added to this sum, and in addition there is a
further payment of 50s. in lieu of wages, so
that a sum of £y 10s. per annum for holiday
purposes is provided, £5 of which is guaran-
teed by the management.
This organisation is also responsible for
the conduct of a very efficient home workers'
scheme, under which 88 persons are em-
ployed. Last year the amount earned in
wages was £2,887 8s., to which must be
added £1,663 J6s. in the form of augmentation.
Those who are disposed to criticise volun-
tary organisations and to indulge in sweeping
generalisations would do well to ponder over
facts such as these, if they desire to be
regarded as authoritative exponents of the
social and industrial problems of the blind.
(To be continued.)
A Good Story.
In the last generation a member of the
Bar named Griffiths carried on a very satis-
factory practice long after he lost his sight.
A good story of one of his rare mistakes is
worth repeating. While waiting for a case
to come on he asked a man near him to
read over his brief to him. The stranger
consented, and at one part paused to remark
on a tricky point of law, whereupon Griffiths,
who was rather impatient, intimated that
he didn't need to learn his law from any
" damned junior." The stranger went on
reading. It was Sir Charles Russell, after-
wards Lord Russell of Killowen, C.J.
PERSONAIIA
Mr. William Nelson Cromwell, founder
and President of the American Braille
Press, has recently become a Trustee of the
American Foundation for the Blind.
The Rev. Gabriel Farrell, assumed
on July 1st, the directorship of Perkins
Institution, Watertown, Mass., U.S.A. Mr.
Farrell is an active and advanced leader of
thejipiscopal Church in the field of educa-
tion.
PAGE
323
BEACON
REVIEWS
REPORTS
Royal Sheffield Institution for the Blind.
The report of the year ended 31st March,
1931, states that a new assembly room has
lately been opened for religious and social
gatherings, and many successful meetings
have been held. The house system has
been introduced at Manchester Road School
and is proving most encouraging in its
results ; a school magazine has been started,
scouting and guiding are in full swing and
organised games make the leisure hours of
the pupils very happy. The report is illus-
trated with photographs of boys and girls
at work and play, and of the Sunday service
in the new assembly room.
South African Library, Grahamstown.
The seventh annual report, for 1930, states
that owing to the receipt of a grant of £1,200
from the Carnegie Corporation, it has been
possible to pay off the bond on the library
building, and also to put £700 aside as a
reserve fund. In spite of the absence abroad
of the hon. librarian for four and a half
months, the work has continued steadily,
and her account, on her return, of work for
the blind in England forms an interesting
part of the report. The Grahamstown
Civilian Blind Committee continues its work,
and is specially interesting itself in the
provision of spectacles for children with
defective sight.
Indigent Blind Visiting Society.
The ninety-sixth annual report of the
Society states that the classes still continue
to afford pleasant means of social intercourse
to a large number of blind people ; it is
interesting to read that the demand for the
work done by the women in Stepney actually
exceeds the supply, so high a standard
having been reached. The Middleton Home
at Maldon provides accommodation for
thirty-six permanent residents, and is also
extensively used as a holiday home in the
summer months.
Asile des Aveugles, Lausanne.
Considerable repairs and alterations have
been made in the home during the past year ;
the hospital section has been brought up to
date, the basket-making department has
been moved from the basement to pleasanter
quarters, and the bedroom accommodation
has been enlarged. The home was invited
to take part in a congress for the welfare of
the blind in Nuremberg, and was represented
at a further congress at Geneva and the
opening of a new home at Berne.
Henshaw's Institution for the Blind.
The ninety-first annual report for the year
ending March, 1931, is an account of many-
sided work in school, training department
and workshop. A marked increase in the
number of contracts secured by the work-
shops bears testimony to the excellence of
the work carried out. A residential open-air
school for children and an adaptation of a
large house for accommodation of men and
staff, both at Rhyl, are interesting new
ventures, made possible through the gener-
osity of the White Heather Fund.
School for the Indigent Blind, Liverpool.
For some years the Committee has recog-
nised the need of a workshop for girls trained
at the School, and this need will very shortly
be met by the provision of salesroom, offices
and workrooms, together with rooms for
domestic training. The new buildings are to
be erected on the site of the old chapel, and
the work has already been set in hand.
Norwich Institution for the Blind.
" A Souvenir of the Norwich Institution
for the Blind " gives the story of the work
of the Institution since its foundation a
hundred and twenty-six years ago ; the
booklet is illustrated with photographs of the
buildings, grounds and workers.
The Institution undertakes the technical
training of blind persons over sixteen, and
the curriculum includes the making of
baskets, mats, machine-knitting and weaving.
With the satisfactory completion of training,
pupils are either taken into the workshops
or provided for under the Home Workers'
Scheme. A further activity described in the
booklet is the Home for aged blind men and
women, while the Committee's plans for the
future are also detailed ; these include
extended training and workshop facilities
and the provision of additional modern
equipment.
PAGE
223
BEACON
ACHIEVEMENTS
OF THE BLIND
First Organ Prize at Conservatoire.
A young blind man, named Gaston
Litaizen, has recently been awarded the
first organ prize in the class of Marcel
Dupre at the Conservatoire. The new prize
winner was born at Mesnilen-Belleville, in
the Vosges, on August nth, 1909, and was
educated at the School for the Blind at
Nancy. He studied the organ for a time
under the direction of M. Adolphe Marty.
Successful Greek Scholar.
Joseph Shefter, a blind boy of sixteen,
has been graduated from the Eastern
District High School, Brooklyn, U.S.A.,
at the head of his class, and has also won
the Greek Scholarship prize offered by the
New York Classical Club to the student
achieving the highest rank in a city-wide
competition.
Few Greek text-books in Braille were
available, and every word and accent of
the lessons had to be dictated to him before
he could begin his home work.
He expresses his indebtedness to the
National Institute for the Blind, London,
for the loan of Homer's Iliad in Braille.
New Blind Mus. Bac.
The degree of Bachelor of Music was
conferred recently at Manchester University
on Mr. Reuben Taylor, who is blind.
Winner of Eisteddfod Braille Prize.
Mr. Ernest C. Mason, of Eastbourne,
was awarded the prize at the Royal National
Eisteddfod of Wales last month in the
Competition in English Braille. The com-
petition was open to all blind people in
England and Wales who had lost their
sight when over 25 years of age. The test-
piece, from a History of Wales, was dictated
to Mr. Mason, who wrote it in Braille on a
hand frame.
R.S.A. Esperanto Certificate.
This year, for the first time, the Royal
Society of Arts included Esperanto in
their subjects for examination, and Miss
Edith Rogers, a blind girl of Salford, decided
to enter in Stage 1, the examination taking
PAGE
224
place in June. A special Braille tran-
scription of the paper was prepared by the
National Institute for the Blind and Miss
Rogers made her replies on a Braille frame.
Notification was received last month that
she had been awarded the Society's certificate
for Stage 1 examination.
Sheffield Blind Pupils' Successes.
In the recent School Examinations of
the Associated Board of the Royal Academy
of Music and the Royal College of Music,
the following pupils of the Royal Blind
School, Sheffield, were successful in passing
with honourable mention : —
Piano, Primary Division : Kathleen
Chappell, Winifred Pigott. Elementary :
Ruth Waywell, Alfred Johnson, Charles
Marsden, Albert Walker, Arthur Jones.
Lower : Lilian Fearnley, Vera Sage.
Singing, Primary : Sarah Green.
The teacher was Mr. Arthur Littlewood,
F.R.C.O.
Blind Musician's Artistry.
" Blind man's melodies coming from a
blind man's hands held men and women
spellbound in the City church of St. Law-
rence Jewry yesterday (1st September),
at lunch time," says the Daily Herald.
Mr. H. V. Spanner, Mus. Bac, F.R.C.O.,
played the music of William Wolstenholme,
the celebrated blind musician who died a
month ago.
Organ Recital at Preston.
On the same day, selections from Wol-
stenholme's compositions were also given
at an organ recital at Preston, by Mr. John
E. Robinson, A.R.C.O., who gained the
first prize in last year's musical competition
for young blind composers, organised by
the National Institute.
Clairvoyance and Blindness.
Recently, in Light, a correspondent wished
to know if there had ever been a Medium
known to be blind from birth. He was
especially interested in the question as to
whether they can see and describe people
clairvoyantly, if they have never seen at
all with their physical eyes. The whole
question seemed to him very interesting,
and if it could be answered in the affirmative,
opened up vistas of the realism of the other
life and the power of the soul. Of course,
the same argument applied to totally deaf
people.
BEACON
WHEN BLINDNESS COMES IN
MIDDLE-AGE.
By JOHN J. CULLEY.
EIGHTY years ago, that is, in
1851, the number of blind
persons in Great Britain was
slightly under 21,500, or an
average of one in every 975
of the total population. Thirty
years later, in 1881, the
number had risen to 22,800, or one in every
1,140, showing that while the actual number
of blind had increased, there had been a
gratifying decrease in the proportion to the
total population. To-day, half a century
later, it is estimated that there are no fewer
than 56,000 blind persons in our midst,
which is not only a startling increase in
actual numbers, but an alarming and
thought-challenging increase in the propor-
tion to the population as a whole. At the
present time roughly one in every 750 persons
in the country is deprived of sight.
To what causes can this enormous increase
be attributed ? Never was more attention
paid to sight than in recent years and now.
In Victorian times the school child was not
worried by visits of oculists, and as a
consequence if anything were found to be
unsatisfactory, hustled off to clinics and
supplied with the proper glasses, or treat-
ment, as the case might be. No evidence is
available that more babies are born blind
than formerly, and I should be surprised
to learn that a greater number of cases of
eye trouble occur during adolescence, or
early manhood or womanhood.
It is my positive conviction — a conviction
founded not upon official statistics, but upon
personal knowledge, that a large proportion
of the increase that has taken place is due
to blindness attacking those in middle life,
and is mainly the direct result of modern
stress and strain. Instance after instance
of this has come under my observation — of
men in the prime of life, or very little past
it, who have, in some cases, almost without
warning, succumbed to eyesight trouble.
With regard to the great majority of us
no period of life is burdened with greater
responsibilities than middle-age. The home
is at the height of its activity as a social
and economic unit. The elder children of
the family are growing into their teens,
and care and thought must be bestowed
upon them in order to ensure their future.
The younger children are still at school.
The cases that have specially come under
my notice are of men in professional walks
of life, men who have often against great
odds succeeded in living up to a certain
social level. They have done their best to
provide education for their children, have
built up and maintained comfortable homes
on modern lines, and have, wisely or not,
connected themselves with various social
amenities. But in many cases this has been
accomplished only by using income to its
utmost limits, or, at the most, by accumulat-
ing so small a reserve that very little would
be available for a rainy day.
Then, as I have stated, almost without
warning, they have been stricken with
blindness, and life has literally fallen to
pieces. They are no longer employable on
the work in which they had for years been
engaged. Employers there are, to their
credit be it said, who treat such cases with
human kindness, and who find for those
who have faithfully worked for them some
form of activity still possible to those
afflicted by blindness. But there are cases
of a reverse character. " Employers," I
have actually been told by one of them,
" cannot be expected to pose as benevolent
institutions." What often happens, too, is
that an employer is only too glad of an
excuse to say good-bye to a member of his
staff commanding a fairly high salary, in
order that the vacancy may be filled by a
younger man at a much more moderate
outlay.
When such callousness occurs the situation
becomes one of acute bitterness. The blind
man has not only to bear his affliction, and
be dependent upon others for quite insignifi-
cant duties in daily life, but he has the
mental worry forced upon him of wondering
how he can continue to support the home.
His house may have only been partly paid
for, but even if it is his own, he has still
upon him the burden of rates and repairs.
Some of his children may be at secondary
PAGE
225
schools, and large demands may be made
upon him for outfit, travelling expenses,
meals and books.
Such men are usually too old to be trained
for some other form of activity — indeed,
their bent has never been in the direction of
the mechanical occupations in which the
early trained blind have shown themselves
so adept. A young man of twenty becoming
blind can be almost certain that he has a
useful career before him, but a man of
middle-age is in an altogether different
category. After spending, say, thirty years,
in the profession of surveying, he can hardly
be expected to obtain much success in
basket-weaving. Yet he feels that he has
by no means reached that stage in life in
which he should spend day by day in an
armchair waiting the inevitable lot of all.
Not only is he worried in regard to the
future of his home and family, but the
prospect of perpetual inactivity is untold
torture.
The problem of how to deal with such
cases is a difficult one, far more difficult
than that of blind babies, blind children,
or blind adolescents. The difficulty in
regard to these has been solved with remark-
able success. One hundred and forty years
have passed since the first school for the
blind was established in this country ; for
it was in 1791 that such a school was opened
at Liverpool. Enormous developments have
taken place since then in the education and
training of the blind, and in providing them
with such practical help as almost to place
them on a level, socially and industrially,
with those not similarly afflicted. But the
problem of the man who becomes blind in
middle life, at the very height of his respon-
sibilities, is still to a large extent unsolved —
and this is especially the case with the pro-
fessional man. As a result he, his wife, and
his children suffer to an extent almost
unthinkable.
Let me close, as I began, on the theme of
statistics. In 1881 the proportion of blind
persons was less than one per thousand of
the total population. To-day, fifty years
later, that proportion has risen to one in 750.
Does that indicate that in front of us is the
prospect that in the course of yet another
half-century, one in every 500 persons will
be sightless ? The thought is a terrifying
one, but it has to be faced. Mental stress
and eye-strain has increased in recent years
PAGE
226
BEACON
at an unprecedented pace. The rush of
motor vehicles along our highways is, after
all, little more than an outward indication
of the general tendency of modern life.
Our fathers thought a road speed of 20 miles
per hour sufficient for every need. Now we
think little of 40 or 50 miles along the
road and double that speed through the air.
But the many crashes are the inevitable
result ; and we must equally expect crashes
as the complement of the rush of modern
life as a whole — blindness among them. We
have police regulation of traffic, subways,
white directions upon the roads themselves,
to deal with the traffic problem, while
ambulances are ready to hand if an actual
crash occurs. Are we equally prepared to
deal with home crashes brought about
through the general rush of modern life ?
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND
NEW PUBLICATIONS
MUSIC.
The prices of the following pieces of music are subject
to a reduction of three-quarters for the blind resident
in the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
The minimum price is 6d. per copy.
ORGAN— s. d.
10.992 Handel. Third Organ Concerto in G
minor (arr. by W. T. Best) . . ..20
10.993 Vergolet, Paul. Storm Fantasy (based
on Dr. Dykes' " Melita ") .. ..20
PIANO—
10.994 Craxton, Harold. A Tahitian Dance. . 2 o
10.995 Fifer, Doreen. Ten Tuneful Pieces for
Beginners . . . . . . ..20
10.996 Nicholls, Frederick. Album of Minia-
tures (Six Characteristic Pieces) . . 20
10.997 Park Moore. Four Lyrics . . . . 20
10.998 Schumann. Kreisleriana : Fantaisies
Op. 16. Nos. 1 — 4 . . . . ..54
io.999 Schumann. Kreisleriana : Fantaisies,
Op 16. Nos. 5—8 54
DANCE—
11.000 Kahal, I, and Richman, H. Moonlight
Saving Time, Song Fox-Trot . . 20
11.001 Lehar, F. You are my heart's delight
(from " The Land of Smiles "), Song
Fox-Trot . . . . ....20
11.002 Noble, Campbell and Connelly. Good-
night, Sweetheart, Song Fox-Trot. . 2 o
11.003 Woods, H. When the moon comes over
the mountain. Song- Waltz . . 20
SONGS—
11.004 Brewer, A. H. Ninetta, D ; E — F1 .. 20
11.005 Broadwood, Lucy E., and Maitland,
J. A. Fuller (edited by). The Golden
Vanity (from " English County
Songs "), A ; A— D1 20
1 1 006 Coates, Eric. Going to the Fair, F ;
C— D1 20
11,007 Handel (arr. by A. L.). Care selve
("Come, Beloved"), from " Ata-
lanta " A ; F— A1 20
Ofc36r
BEACON
10,592
10,551
11.008 Liszt. Loreley, G; Bx flat— Gl .. 20
11.009 Loewe, Carl. Drum Serenade, C ;
Gx— El 20
ii.oio Thornley, Barbara. The Song of the
Stones, A ; Bx sharp — El . . ..20
11,011 The Buds. E flat D— F1 .. .. 2 o
BRAILLE BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per vol.
s. d.
10,496-10,498 Black Sheep, The, by Ruby M.
Ayres. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers. 3 vols. F.186 6 3
10,489-10,491 Death comes for the Archbishop,
by Willa Cather. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 3 vols.
F.161 56
[0,597 Dracula, by Bram Stoker.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers, 6 vols. F.345 . . 59
[°,555 End of the House of Alard, The,
by Sheila Kaye-Smith, Grade 2,
Large size, Interpointed, Paper
Covers, 5 vols. F.272 .. .. 56
10,556-10,558 Extremes Meet, by Compton
Mackenzie. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 3 vols.
F.196 6 6
10,457-10,458 Figures in Modern Literature,
by J. B. Priestley. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Cloth Boards,
2 vols. G.140 . . . . ..89
10,621-10,623 Gorgeous Borgia, The, by Justin
Huntly McCa.-thy. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers,
3 vols. F.165 . . . . ..56
10.543 Life in the Word, by Philip Mauro.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers. F.54 . . . . ..56
10.544 Misleading Cases in the Common Law,
by A. P. Herbert. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Cloth Boards.
G87 9 9
io.493-io,495 Money for Nothing, by P. G.
Wodehouse. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 3 vols.
F.194 6 6
10,786 More Points of View. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Cloth Boards.
G-73 90
io.53°-io.537 Mystery at Geneva, by Ro-,e
Macaulay. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers, 2 vols.
F-i°7 5 6
10,767-10,768 Pupils' Class-Book of Arith-
metic, The, Book II, by E. J. S. Ley,
Grade 1, Intermediate size, Inter-
pointed, Stiff Covers, 2 vols. B.77.. 4 6
io,559 Wheels of Time, The, by Florence
Barclay. Grade 2, Pocket size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers. D.28 . . 3 o
MOON BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
3.098-3,103 The Snare, by Rafael Sabatini,
6 vols. (Limited Edition) . . ..12 o
NATIONAL INSTITUTE'S MUSIC STUDENTS'
LIBRARY.
VIOLIN.
Bach — Sonatas —
No. 3, in A minor (91)
No. 4, in D minor (92)
No. 5, in C (93)
No. 6, in E (94)
VIOLIN AND PIANO.
Beethoven — Sonatas —
No. 1, in D, Op. 12 —
Violin Part (95)
Piano Part (96)
No. 2, in A, Op. 12 —
Violin Part (97)
Piano Part (98)
No. 3, in E flat, Op. 12—
Violin Part (99)
Piano Part (100)
No. 4, in A minor, Op. 23 —
Violin Part (201)
Piano Part (202)
No. 5, in F, Op. 24 —
Violin Part (203)
Piano Part (204)
No. 9, in A (" Kreutzer "), Op. 47 —
Violin Part (205)
Piano Part (206)
Franck, Cesar — Sonata in A —
Violin Part (207)
Piano Part (208)
Mendelssohn — Concerto in E minor —
Violin Part (209)
Piano Part (210)
TRIO
in D minor-
Bach — Concerto No. 3
ist Violin Part (217)
2nd Violin Part (218)
Piano Part (219)
THEORY AND MUSIC LITERATURE.
Matthay, Tobias — Musical Interpretation, 3 vols.
(220-222)
Mendl, R. W. S.— The Appeal of Jazz, 2 vols. (223-224)
Duncan, Edmondstoune (edited by) — Reeves' Biogra-
phical Dictionary of Musicians, 6 vols. (225-200)
Various— The Origin and History of Sol-fa Scale Names,
by Edward Watson ; Progress in Sight Reading,
by Edward Watson ; Some Problems in the Teaching
of Solo Singing, by George Dodds ; Schubert in his
Songs, by A. H. Fox Strangways ; Songs as the
Singer Sees them, by H. Plunket Greene (231)
Guide to Musical Scholarships, Degiees and Diplomas
at the Universities and the greater Academies of
Music, from Authoritative Sources (232)
Summary of Regulations Relating to Degrees in
Music (233)
A Short Account of Distinguished Blind Musicians
(234)
Watson, Edward — Oratorios, Sacred Cantatas and
Oratorio Selections in the N.I.B. Catalogue (235)
NATIONAL INSTITUTE STUDENTS' LIBRARY.
ADDITIONS.
BIOGRAPHY.
Vols.
• 3
Hume, by Professor Huxley
CLASSICS.
Homei's Iliad, Books 16-24 .. .. 3
POETRY AND DRAMA.
Hardy, T. Chosen Poems. . . . . 2
Shaw, G. B. Pygmalion.. .. .. ..2
PSYCHOLOGY.
Watts, F. Abnormal Psychology . . . . 2
SCIENCE.
Huxley, J. Possible Worlds . . . . 3
THEOLOGY.
Webb, C. J. Problems in the relation of God
and Man . . . . . . . . . . 3
PAGE
227
BEACON
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND.
ADDITIONS— AUGUST, 1931.
1
FICTION.
Anderson, H. M. Kelston of Kells
Ashton, Helen. Mackerel Sky
Beeding, F. House of Doctor Edwards. .
['.ridges, V. Secret of the Creek.
Brill, Edith. The Mink Coat
Diver, Maud. Unconquered
Ferber, Edna. The Gills . . .'. .'.
Gibbs, Anthony. High Endeavour
Gibbs, Philip. Wings of Adventure and Other
Stories
Herbert, A. P. Watei Gipsies . .' .' .' .' \
Mackail, D. Another Part of the Wood
Mackail, D. Square Circle
Oxenham, J. Hawk of Como
Pedler, Margaret. Moon Out of Reach
Pedler, Margaret. Fate and The Watcher
Reynolds, Mrs. Baillie. Accessory After the
Fact
Reynolds, S. Poor Man's House
Roche, Mazo de la. Portrait of a Dog. .
Rodd, R. Secret of the Flames
Stern, Laurence. Tristram Shandy.
" Strong, Ben." Track of the Slayer
Trollope, Anthony. Short Stories
Wallace, Edgar. Ghost of Down Hill
Weyman, Stanley. The Lively Peggy
MISCELLANEOUS.
Benson, E. F. As We Were
♦Graham, R. B. Cunninghame. Success and
Other Sketches
Hoernle, R. F. A. Idealism as a Philosophical
Doctrine
Jeans, Sir James. Stars in Their Courses
Krishnamurti, J. Life in Freedom
Longfellow, H. W. Tales of a Wayside Inn . .
(E. W. Austin Memorial.)
Lowell, Joan. Child of the Deep ; an auto-
biographical narrative)
Milne, A. A. Step-Mother. A Play
Munro, Harold (Compiler). Twentieth Century
Poetry
*Noyes, A. Drake ; An English Epic
Okey, Thomas. A Basketful of Memories
Pickthall, M. Oiiental Encounters — Palestine
and Syria, 1894-6
Sassoon, Philip. Third Route. (Flight to India)
Seabrook, W. B. Magic Island
Shepperd, W. Apology of a Patient Parson . .
Timperley, H. W. English Scenes and Birds . .
Wrenbury, Rt. Hon. Lord. Of Immortality, and
Other Thoughts
JUVENILE.
Bagnold, Enid. Alice and Thomas and Jane. .
♦Harborough, M. Camp of the Otters
Hinkson, Pamela. St. Mary's
Johnston, Annie Fellows. Joel — A Boy of
Galilee
Masefield, J. Midnight Folk . . . . "
*Mee, Aithur (Compiler). Children's Hour
GRADE I.
*Farjeon, Eleanor. Perfect Zoo
Paiker, Sir G. Tarboe
MOON.
Alden, R. N. Why the Chimes Rang . .
Mackail, D. Another Part of the Wood
Sutcliffe, H. Under the White Cockade
*Steieotyped books.
ADVERT1SMNTS
HOME TEACHER (Woman), fully qualified, desires
appointment. Practical experience. Preferably urban.
Or would consider piivate appointment. A.Y.Z.,
c/o Miss Cave, 27, Reginald Road, Bexhill.
GENTLEMAN, experienced, smart appearance and
good address, desires position as ORGANISER or
HOME TEACHER. Unquestionable credentials.
Thomas, 63, Diamond Street, Cardiff.
Wanted by young LADY (27) post as HOME
TEACHER. Good knowledge of Braille, and blind
administration generally. Willing to sit for exams
Write BM/STNL, London, W.C.i.
HOME TEACHER (MALE), fully qualified, desires
appointment. Ten years' practical industrial experi-
ence. Intimate knowledge of social welfare work and
thoroughly versed in blind administration. Excellent
testimonials. J. M. Edwards, 82, Alexandra Parade,
Glasgow.
" MOODS AND MELODIES "—a collection of
poems by Ben Purse —will be published on 21st October,
1931, by Messrs. Buck Bros. & Harding, Ltd., of 6,
West Avenue, Walthamstow, E. 17, price 3s. 6d.
The first edition will consist of 300 copies and intending
purchasers should order from the publishers without
delay.
WANTED a sighted woman HOME TEACHER
AND VISITOR for the Blind. Salary, £156 per annum.
Write stating age, experience and qualifications, and
enclose copies of testimonials, to The Chairman, New-
castle and Gateshead Home Teaching Society for the
Blind, 47, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, not
later than 21st September, 193 1. Envelopes to be
endorsed " Home Teacher."
ROYAL MIDLAND INSTITUTION FOR THE BLIND,
NOTTINGHAM.
TECHNICAL TRAINING DEPARTMENT.
There are a few vacancies for blind girls over the
age of 16 years. Particulars from Mr. M. Priestley,
Superintendent and Secretary.
BURNLEY AND DISTRICT SOCIETY FOR THE
BLIND.
WANTED by the Burnley and District Society for
the Blind, sighted CERTIFICATED HOME TEACHER
AND VISITOR (Woman) for the County Area (Nelson,
Brierfield and Padiham districts). Salary /156 per
annum. Write, stating age, experience and qualifica-
tions to The Secretary, Burnley and District Society
for the Blind, 31, Clitheroe Road, Brierfield, Burnley,
not later than September 22nd.
CITY OF SALFORD.
BLIND PERSONS WELFARE COMMITTEE.
Home Teacher of the Blind required. Salary scale,
^117 to £169 per annum. Commencing salary according
to experience. Applications, stating age, qualifications
and experience, accompanied by copies of three recent
testimonials, to be forwarded not later than 23rd
September.
JOHN A. HARTLEY,
Executive Officer.
Education Office, Salford.
Printed by Smiiuhjs' Printing Co. (London and St. Albans), Ltd.
24, Fetter Lane, E.C.<
(^ZJPicZNcw
BEACON
A MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF THE BLIND
Vol. XV.-No. 178. OCTOBER 15th, 1931. Price 3d.
3S. PER ANNUM, POST FREE.
Entered as Second Class Matter, March 15, 1929, at the Post Office at Boston, Mass., under the Act of March 3, 1879 {Sec. 397, P.L. and R.)
MAINTENANCE OF WIRELESS RECEIVING
APPARATUS.
By EDWARD J. PYKE, M..A.
A GOOD many readers of The New Beacon, especially those engaged in visiting
the blind in their homes, must from time to time be consulted as to the reason
why a wireless set is not proving satisfactory. Very often it is unnecessary
to call in an engineer, and a seeing friend, with even a little knowledge, can
remedy small defects. It is to aid the Home Visitor, and those to whom
the blind thus appeal for help in adjusting their wireless sets, that the following
hints are given.
In order to obtain enjoyment from broadcasting, the sounds given
by the loud speaker or headphones should resemble as far as possible sounds made in the
studio, concert hall or whatever it may be. Broadcast transmission is of sufficiently high
quality to make it possible to receive what even the most critical musician would, at any rate,
term " worth while."
Everybody wants to have good quality broadcast reception and the object of this article
is to help them to achieve this end.
Frequently a well-designed set is not given a fair chance. Good maintenance of the
wireless receiving sets is of fundamental importance. H.T. batteries do not last for ever.
Aerial insulators become dirty. L.T. batteries require charging, and unless such routine
maintenance is carried out in a methodical manner, the best results will not be achieved.
Aerial-Earth System.
The more efficient the aerial the cheaper and easier to maintain the set. The aerial
collects energy from the ether, and it is obvious that its efficient collection must be a matter
of great importance. See that the aerial is so rigged that it is not constantly chafing with any
action of the wind ; an aerial which is allowed to swing too much is apt to break some strands
of the wire of which it is composed, producing unpleasant crackling noises in the set.
BEACON
For maximum signal strength the aerial
should be large and high, and the down-lead,
except at the point of entry into the house,
should be clear of walls or buildings by at
least a foot, and preferably 3 or 4 feet. Good
insulation is essential, and insulators should
be kept clean and dry. Avoid joints, but
if they are essential solder them.
The Receiver.
See that it is kept clean and dry and that
all the terminals are screwed up tight.
Valves.
Good results are only to be obtained
if the correct type of valve is used in each
valve holder. The life of the modern valve
is enormously greater than that of its pre-
decessors ; nevertheless, owing to its useful
life having been exceeded its efficiency may
have deteriorated, even though the filament
is still intact. A suspected valve should
be changed for a new one or taken to a wire-
less retailer for test.
Low Tension Supply.
To get good service from an accumulator
it must be properly looked after. Follow
the maker's instructions implicitly. Use
distilled water for " topping up " and keep
the acid at the proper level. Never let
the battery run down below 1.8 volts per
cell. A hydrometer, which can be purchased
for a few pence, is a useful aid for determining
the condition of the battery. So as to
prevent corrosion it is advisable to smear
the terminals lightly with vaseline, and keep
them screwed up tight.
High Tension Supply.
It cannot be too strongly emphasised
that in, order to obtain good reproduction
it is essential that adequate voltage should
be applied to the last or output valve of the
set. If it were required to state the most
common cause of indifferent reproduction,
insufficient high-tension voltage would be
unhesitatingly selected.
As a battery ages it is liable to give rise
to howling or distorted reproduction, and
should be renewed. Do not connect old
batteries in series with new ones.
Grid Bias.
It is important to use the correct amount
of grid bias ; this varies widely with the type
of valve in use. A useful rule which gives
PAGE
23O
approximately the correct grid bias voltage
is to divide the high-tension voltage by
twice the amplification factor of the valve.
The latter is invariably given with the
literature supplied with the valve. Suppose,
for example, that a valve with an amplifi-
cation factor of six is being used and that the
high-tension voltage is 120, then the grid
bias voltage should be six multiplied by two
and divided into 120, which equals 10. This
figure need not be absolutely adhered to,
but gives the approximate value.
The use of grid bias is not only essential
to good quality, but also greatly increases
the life of the high tension battery. A grid
bias battery lasts for a very long time, but
not for ever. It is cheap. Renew it
occasionally.
Loud Speaker and Headphones.
If you get distorted results, carefully
examine your receiver, H.T., L.T. and Grid
Bias batteries before blaming the loud
speaker or headphones.
Seek expert advice before running long
extension leads to your receiver.
Conclusion.
If once a set has worked well, it can be
made to continue to work well. The
essence of good maintenance is method,
tidiness and cleanliness.
DIARY OF EVENTS.
Notices of Annual Meetings and important
Committee Meetings are inserted in The
New Beacon as space permits. Secretaries
are requested to send intimations to the
Editor not later than the 3rd of the month
for insertion in the next issue.
* October 15th.
N.I.B. General Purposes Committee. 2 p.m.
October 22nd.
Midland Societies for the Blind. 4.30. Committee
meeting, 174, Edmund Street, Birmingham.
♦October 28th.
N.I.B. Executive Council. 11 a.m.
N.I.B. Education and Research Committee. 2.30 p.m.
* November 6th.
N.I.B. Finance Committee. 2.30 p.m.
November 9th.
Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind. 5.30.
General Committee, Council House, Birmingham.
November 19th.
General Meeting, Union of Counties Associations.
*In view of the political situation, these dates of Com-
mittees are provisional only.
BEACON
HOME NEWS
Royal Support.
H.M. Queen Mary and H.R.H. Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood, have
purchased a number of articles made by blind women at Oakhurst, a branch of the
Bradford Royal Institution for the Blind.
The Lindsey Blind Society.
The Lindsey Blind Society has received with regret the resignation of its secretary,
Mr. H. Denham Smith, on account of ill health. The Rev. F. H. Roach has been
appointed honorary secretary and Mr. W. G. Key, secretary.
Progress in Ireland.
A meeting was held last month at Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, when an address was
given on the care of the blind in the Irish Free State by Miss A. Armitage and it was
agreed to form a local committee to care for the needs of the Tipperary blind, which
should work in co-operation with the National Council for the Welfare of the Blind,
recently founded in Dublin.
Value of Wireless to the Blind.
The following extract from a letter from a Welsh recipient of a wireless set given
him through the British " Wireless for the Blind " Fund, is a striking tribute of what
wireless may mean to a blind man : — " The set is working splendidly and is a source
of great pleasure to me. In listening to its music and other broadcasts I am overcome
by some strange feeling, a mixed feeling, producing tears and smiles. . . . There was
a time when I felt that the world was closed to me, but now I have a new feeling — that
the world is again revealed to me, and that I am more in it than ever before."
A Wireless Discussion Group for the Blind in Manchester.
The Northern Branch of the National Library for the Blind in Manchester
announces that the first Wireless Discussion Group of its kind has been organised for
blind readers and their friends during the coming winter session. The group will meet
on Thursday evenings commencing ist October, 1931, to discuss the problems suggested
by the broadcasts given ,by Mr. Leonard Woolf, Lord Eustace Percy and others, on
" The Modern State." The Discussion Group has been formed as a development of the
lectures and discussion classes which have been a feature of the library's evening
programme for several winter seasons. Thus the forthcoming talks will be connected
with the series given during the winters of 1929 and 1930 by Mr. R. Y. Hedges, LL.M.,
of the University of Manchester, on " Central Government " and " International
Relations." An important feature in connection with this work is the number of books
specially transcribed into Braille for the benefit of those attending the courses. The
British Broadcasting Corporation pamphlet on " The Modern State," by Mr. J. A.
Hobson, has just been published in Braille, whilst amongst other works already in
Braille or in process of transcription are the following, all selected from the B.B.C.
book list : —
" Conservatism," by Lord. Hugh Cecil.
" Liberalism," by L. T. Hobhouse.
" The Socialist Movement," by the Rt. Hon. J. Ramsay MacDonald.
" Communism," by H. J. Laski.
" An Introduction to Politics," by H. J. Laski.
" The Open Conspiracy," by H. G. Wells.
" My Northcliffe Diary," by Tom Clarke.
" Descriptive Economics," by R. A. Rehdeldt.
Fortunately Professor J. L. Brierly's " Law of Nations," a book used by the History
class last session, will again be of service to those attending the Wireless Discussion
Group.
PAGE
231
BEACON
Essex County Association for the Blind.
The address of the Essex County Association for the Blind is now 40, Duke Street,
Chelmsford. The telephone number is unchanged (Chelmsford 560).
Roman Catholic Braille Writers Wanted.
A letter recently appeared in The Universe from Miss A. Gaisford, Danefold, West
Grinstead, Horsham, appealing for the assistance of Roman Catholic volunteers willing
to transcribe into Braille articles on current topics and Roman Catholic news.
Social Evening for the Blind at Norwich.
The Lord Mayor of Norwich (Miss Mabel Clarkson) invited the blind in the city
to a social evening on 30th September. It was stated to be the first time that the chief
magistrate of Norwich had received the blind as special guests, and over 200 were
present. The guests were entertained by a concert party and afterwards to tea.
The First Girl Pupil at the Royal Normal College.
The death has recently taken place of Miss Amelia Ann Campbell, who was the
first girl pupil to enter the Royal Normal College ; she became a pupil there in 1872
at the age of 12, and subsequently became a member of the staff, only retiring two
years ago. She made a reputation for herself when she sang the solo part of " Hear My
Prayer " before H.M. Queen Victoria at Windsor, and was also one of a quartet of
blind musicians who toured the United States under the diiection of Sir Francis
Campbell.
New " Bargain Shop " for Swiss Cottage.
The School for the Blind, Swiss Cottage, has chosen a very appropriate moment
at which to open its Bargain Shop in Belsize Road, Hampstead ; just now, when every-
one wants to economise, an excellent opportunity is offered those who have a "shopping-
sense " and remember that somebody's white elephant may be somebody else's ewe
lamb. The stock is all second hand and has been given by residents in the neighbour-
hood who are clearing out unwanted goods, moving, or giving up some hobby, and the
articles for sale range from side saddles to sporting prints and from china to clothes.
A roomful of books is said to rival even Charing Cross Road. All the proceeds go to the
funds of the School, and everything is cheap.
The Sixth Sense of the Blind.
Members of the London Society who visited the National Institute for the Blind
were told of a mysterious " sixth sense " that is developed in the blind themselves.
" I am surprised to find," said Mr. P. W. Lovell, the Society's Organising Secretary,
in an address of thanks, " that many of the blind can and do take an intelligent interest
in the buildings of this great city. One blind member of the National Institute's staff
declares that when in the neighbourhood of a building he can roughly estimate its size.
His theory is that an immense mass of masonry, displacing an equally great mass of
air, produces an effect that can be readily recognised by a blind person. Each large
building, he says, has its own particular effect on a sensitive blind observer. For
example, when passing down Whitehall, he knows when the Ministry of Health
is near."
Blind Sports Club Activities.
The activities of the Sports Club for the Blind will continue throughout the winter
months, and among the fixtures arranged are the following : —
Boating (coaching of members) .—Saturdays 10-11.30 and 2.30-4, at Regent's Park
boathouse, from 3rd October to 9th April.
Dancing Classes. — Fridays 6. 15-7. 15 from 30th October. Classes held in the
Armitage Hall.
Indoor Games (chess, draughts, cards, cribbage and dominoes). — Tuesdays, 6 p.m.,
at the National Institute.
PAGE
232
BEACON
Rambles. — The first of these will take place on Saturday, 24th October (further
details on application), and there will be rambles on Sundays during the winter months.
A number of Zoo tickets for weekdays only are available for blind persons and their
guides. In order to raise money for the Club, dances will be held as follows during the
winter : —
21st October and 20th April, at Holborn Hall, 8-11.30, tickets 2s., exclusive of
refreshments ; 26th November, 28th January and 4th March, 7.30-1 1, at the National
Institute for the Blind, tickets 2s., including refreshments. As the Holborn Hall has
room for 300 to 400 dancers, it is hoped that the dances may be made widely known.
Further details of the Club and of the winter programme will be sent on application
to the hon. secretary.
St. Mary's Ophthalmic Clinic.
St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, has opened a special ophthalmic clinic where,
for a fee of 10s. 6d., people whose incomes come within a certain range may see an eye
specialist and get a sound prescription for suitable glasses. The clinic is held on
Tuesdays at 5 p.m. and applications for consultations ma}- be made in writing or by
telephone, when an appointment will be given for a definite time.
Persons who are eligible for attention at the clinic are members of approved societies,
contributors to the Hospital Savings Association and those whose incomes come within
certain prescribed limits up to £6 a week, and who are willing to sign a declaration to
that effect and to pay an ophthalmic surgeon's fee of 10s. 6d. Married or single status,
and familv responsibilities are taken into consideration.
WIRELESS LISTENING GROUPS IN THE
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE.
THE title of this brief article
might lead anyone to sup-
pose that wireless listening
groups had had a long
period of life. In fact,
of course, they are some-
thing very new, and
naturally, much newer than radio broad-
casting. When the first group was held
no one seems to know ; the origins of the
movement appear to be wrapped in romantic
mystery. Professor Puddlebury after ex-
haustive researches in the Bodleian and the
Vatican — but enough ! By 1928 the labours
of the very representative committee set up
by the B.B.C and presided over by Sir
W. H. Hadow were completed, and " New
Ventures in Broadcasting," which was the
report of the work of this committee, pub-
lished. Amongst other things suggested
in their report was the formation of wireless
groups. To help in their organisation, the
setting up of a Central Council and Area
Councils for Broadcast Adult Education
were recommended. The Central Council,
of which the Archbishop of York is Chairman,
held its first meeting on 8th November,
1928, and since that time four Area Councils
and a Scottish Organising Committee have
been set up. Each Area Council has as its
Secretary an Education Officer of the B.B.C,
who encourages and stimulates the formation
of listening groups, though the work of
actual promotion is done by local enthusiasts.
All this work is done with the help and
co-operation of the organisations repre-
sented on the Area Councils which, like
the Central Council, are representative bodies.
The B.B.C is not setting up any new or
rival organisation ; it is merely assisting
educational and social institutions to get
fullest value out of broadcasting. This
must not be taken to mean that the Central
and Area Councils are only concerned with
corporate bodies and listening groups. They
have another important function, which is
to bring home to the individual the possi-
bilities of broadcasting in the field of adult
education, and the very interesting experi-
ment which the Western Area Council has
begun in forming a Register of Listeners to
talks may have important results.
PAGE
233
BEACON
However, group listening is the subject
of these notes and to them it is time to
return. A wireless listening group is not
something very difficult to conduct, once
formed. The organisation is perhaps more
difficult than the conduct ; as always it is
the first step that counts. Roughly, groups
are of three kinds — the fireside group in a
private house, where members come by
invitation ; the group organised by some
institution or society, confined to members
of that society or institution ; and the public
group, composed of all sorts and conditions
of people. The first type of group is pro-
bably the easiest and the last the most
difficult, though valuable help is often given
by Local Educational Authorities and Public
Librarians ; some of the best groups have
been held at Public Libraries, and Librarians
do invaluable work by distributing the
Talks Programme, lists of books recom-
mended by speakers, and displaying a poster
advertising the talks.
To run a group successfully after the
organisation for making it known is in hand,
certain things are necessary. First, a good
receiving set capable of filling the room or
hall in which the group is to be held ;
secondly, a suitable room and the less like
a schoolroom the better, though excellent
groups have been held in schoolrooms ;
thirdly, copies of the Talks Programme,
Talks Pamphlet and The Listener. The
Pamphlets and The Listener are essential,
because they supplement the spoken by the
written word and contain particulars of
books which are recommended by speakers.
The importance of reading as well as listening
needs stressing, because some people have
said that we are becoming a nation of passive
listeners. All the evidence — for example,
the increase of library non-fictional issues —
points the other way, but in any case the
Central Council is alive to the danger.
Lastly, there is the leader. We have left
him or her to the last because in a wireless
listening group two people stand out — the
unseen speaker, far away at the microphone,
and the actual group leader. To be a
successful group leader is an art, like all
teaching, and depends so much on person-
ality that to attempt to say how a group
leader should conduct his group is dangerous.
Each leader must create his own way of
going about his job. Nevertheless, there
PAGE
234
are two things without which a group leader
will have a hard task. He must have some
previous knowledge of the subject of the
talk and, as part of his personal make-up,
that natural tact and sympathy which can
draw contributions from his audience and
can guide without dominating.
What retards the increase of groups is
not so much lack of the things material
mentioned above, but leaders. To inspire
and to teach people to lead wireless dis-
cussion groups, short summer schools have
been held and readers of The New Beacon
have had a full account of the first National
Summer School from one who was there,
and they may be interested to know that
of the 70 members nearly every one will
run one or more listening groups this winter.
Tabulated facts and figures are dull things,
but we give below the numbers of groups
since the time when any figures have been
available :—
Winter of 1928-29 . . . . 263
1929-30 .. .. 526
1930-31 . . . . 1,000
These groups were in town and country,
and let no one think that wireless talks
are too advanced for country people. Such
an idea is a mistake and in country districts
there is a great work waiting to be done.
One last word. As a social and educa-
tional activity wireless discussion groups
are marked by their informality and friendly
atmosphere and long may they remain so.
They are not rivals to more intensive types
of classes for adults, but are designed for
the plain man and woman. The new pro-
gramme, " The Changing World,"* which
we hope all our readers will see, illustrates
this. All the talks in it deal with problems
not remote from daily life and work, but
definitely and closely related to them.
Will all who are interested get in touch
either with the Secretary of an Area Councilf ,
or with the Secretary of the Central Council
for Broadcast Adult Education, at Savoy
Hill?
*Obtainable at most Public Libraries, and from the
B.B.C., Savoy Hill, London, on receipt of id. postage.
fEducation officers are stationed at the B.B.C.
offices at Birmingham, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds and
Edinburgh.
WELFARE OF THE SCOTTISH BLIND
Sixth Report of the Scottish Advisory Committee.
THE Sixth Report of the
Scottish Advisory Com-
mittee on the Welfare of
the Blind was issued this
month. The Report
covers the period from
17th December, 1929, to
28th May, 1931, when the Committee
demitted office. It is signed by Sir William
Reid (Chairman) and the Reverend Thomas
Burns, D.D. (Vice-Chairman) on behalf
of the Committee.
The Advisory Committee was first set
up in 1918. Its purpose is to advise the
Department of Health for Scotland on all
matters relating to the care and supervision
of the blind in Scotland, and it is so con-
stituted as to include persons nominated
by Associations representative of all the
public authorities concerned in the welfare
of the blind, of voluntary agencies for the
blind, and of the blind workers them-
selves.
The Report deals with many important
questions affecting the interests of blind
persons, and reviews and discusses some
of the problems that have arisen, as well
as giving an account of some of the later
services provided for the blind.
Reviewing the revised arrangements of
local authorities consequent on the fuller
duties devolving on them as a result of
the provisions of the Local Government
(Scotland) Act, 1929, the Committee note
that in the revised schemes submitted
" there has been no alteration in the policy
of utilising voluntary associations." They
express themselves as against municipalisa-
tion so long as a high standard of efficiency
is maintained, of the services for the blind at
present being carried on by these associa-
tions, but admit that the latest services
such as the certification of blindness and the
provision of allowances to the necessitous
blind might be better undertaken by local
authorities.
The Committee express gratification at
the fact that practically every County and
Town Council responsible for the blind has
made a declaration under Section 14 (4)
of the Act of 1929 that they would lift the
blind out of the Poor Law. With reference
to the arrangements of the authorities for
providing assistance to necessitous blind
persons under the Blind Persons Act instead
of under the Poor Law, attention is drawn
to the varying systems at present in opera-
tion, and the view is expressed that the basis
of assistance should be uniform and quite
distinct from that of the Poor Law.
The Report analyses the last five years'
grants in aid of the welfare of the blind
paid by the Department of Health. The
progressive increase in these grants is an
indication of the continued development
of services for the blind.
The number of registered blind persons
in Scotland continues to increase, the total
8,897 at 1st April, 1930, being 379 more
than in the previous year. New cases
numbering 1,062 were registered in the
course of the year, of whom at least 60 per
cent, were persons who became blind after
50 years of age. On the continued high
annual number of new registrations, the
Committee suggest that this is probably
to a considerable extent due to inadequate
arrangements for the certification of blind-
ness and the lack of a uniform standard of
blindness.
The percentage of registered blind persons
under 16 years of age continues to show a
decrease, indicating clearly the increasingly
beneficial results of the maternity and child
welfare schemes of local authorities, and
of the energetic measures now prosecuted
by the authorities for the prevention and
treatment of disease, in particular of
ophthalmia neonatorum and the venereal
diseases. Of the total blind 69.8 per cent,
are classified as unemployable.
The Report discusses also the question
of the institution of a craft school or schools
for the blind, and reviews the proposed
new system of certification of blindness
through the medium of regional clinics
employing ophthalmic surgeons for the
purpose. It also contains the results of
the Committee's investigations into pro-
blems connected with the earnings and
employment of blind persons in special
workshops, and the employment of blind
workers in their own homes and of blind
persons as masseurs.
PAGE
235
BEACON
A reference is made to the recent World
Conference on the Welfare of the Blind,
held in New York on the invitation of
President Hoover, at which Scotland was offi-
cially represented, and the view is expressed
that this Conference, with its interchange
and dissemination of information regarding
work among the blind, will prove of material
advantage to workers in the cause of the
blind with the resultant benefits to the blind
themselves.
A
A PORTUGUESE SCHOOL.
WET day in Portugal (or
more strictly a little bit
of a wet day) even in this
summer was something so
unusual that we felt it
must be celebrated by
some indoor activity, and
a visit to the Instituto Branco Rodrigues
was the result.
The kind manager of our hotel, who
spoke wonderfully good English, so long as
we kept to the well-trodden paths of meals,
packed lunches, and the sights of the neigh-
bourhood, but who went rather badly to
pieces when these were deserted, undertook
to write a letter of introduction in Portu-
guese, commending us to the schoolmaster.
The blind pupils of the Institution, he told
us, were often engaged by the Hotel to play
to the guests.
The Instituto Branco Rodrigues is a
white two-storied villa, and the bit of a
wet day having repented before we actually
arrived, it looked very attractive shining
in the sun. It faces the white and dusty
road leading from Estoril, a little town
about fifteen miles outside Lisbon, but the
view from its back windows, over the
dazzlingly blue Atlantic, makes it perhaps
one of the most beautifully situated schools
for the blind in the world, and certainly
one of the healthiest. Within, except for
the rather sombre " parlour " where visitors
are received, all the rooms were beautifully
light and airy, with French windows opening
on to balconies. Everywhere, including the
tiled kitchen, where with much breaking
of eggs a mid-day meal was being prepared,
was spotlessly clean.
The school accommodates about fifty
boys, ranging in age from six to twenty,
and they are given a general primary
education, and special training in music
and violin playing ; an imposing list of
successes in music examinations was shown
to me, and one of the older boys played
piano and violin solos very delightfully.
PAGE
236
I did not see anjr workshop or classes for
manual training, and gathered that the
school was for music teaching only, but that
workshop training was given in Lisbon.
Unfortunately, my own complete lack of
Portuguese, and the schoolmaster's complete
lack of English, made conversation, save in
rather halting French, a difficulty. French
is a compulsory language throughout the
school.
I saw the Library, which consists almost
exclusively of hand-written books, as there
is no printing done in Portugal ; a few books
are obtained from the Association Valentin
Hauy, Paris, and apparatus is also purchased
there. One treasured volume of music,
printed by the British and Foreign Blind
Society at Cambridge Square, was shown to
me with pride. I asked the music-master
if he knew of the Paris Conference on the
standardisation of Braille music, but he
had not apparently heard anything of it.
I was asked to give the boys some French
dictation, while one of their number was
sent out of the room, later returning to
read what had been written by touch.
No book was given me from which to dictate,
but I stumbled along somehow, and hope
that the very nice little boys suffered no
ill-effects from ungrammatical constructions.
Some small boys were doing work down-
stairs with Braillette boards under the
direction of a blind woman-teacher, others
identified strange specimens of cereals in
glass jars, and yet others asked me to name
Spanish and Portuguese towns, which they
pointed out on a wall map, while I took
furtive peeps at the names in my guide-
book as soon as my limited stock of place-
names had given out.
According to the schoolmaster who showed
me over the school, work for the blind in
Portugal is very backward ; here, however,
was a " live " though small Institution,
where blind boys are growing up in delightful
surroundings. M. G. T.
BEACON
CORRESPONDENCE
To the Editor.
Blind Men in Holy Orders.
Sir, — With reference to Canon Bolam's
article, with which I am, on the whole, in
cordial agreement, I would make the follow-
ing observation without comment : — The
Rev. G. F. Whittleton, who is now Vicar
of St. Jude, Croydon, was applying to the
then Bishop of Southwark, Dr. Talbot,
for ordination. The Bishop asked him why
he sought Orders, to which he replied,
" Because I can do that job better than any
other." " That," rejoined the Bishop, " is
the very best reason why a man should seek
Orders."
Yours, etc.,
Walter H. Dixson.
12, Norham Gardens,
Oxford.
To the Editor.
" Progress " and its Past.
Sir, — I am sorry that the Editor of
" Progress," in his valuable article on
that journal, did not tell us more of what
it was and how it came to be what it is.
In 1879, Mr. Henry Gardner left a large
sum of money to the blind. There was a
difference of opinion among the Trustees
as to whether or not a Blind Institution
should be built at- Windsor and called by
the name of the testator, the question
became the subject of a lawsuit which was
not settled until early in 1881, when the
judge decided against the foundation of
such an institution. The newspapers took
so little interest in the case that Dr.
Armitage determined that the blind should
have a report in Braille, and this was the
first number of " Progress," which was issued
in March, 1881. During the first year it
consisted of four interlined sheets of old
Braille, sold at the price of threepence.
In 1882 it was doubled in size but appeared
only every two months, at the price of
sixpence. Dr. Armitage was succeeded in
the Editorship by John L. Shadwell, a
blind scholar of considerable ability. It
was a singular fact that Dr. Armitage died
from falling off a horse, and Mr. Shadwell
met his death by falling from a window.
It was in 1903 that Mr. Godfrey Hamilton
took on the Editorship, and re-issued it every
month in much the form that we see now.
Yours, etc.,
Walter H. Dixson.
12, Norham Gardens,
Oxford.
To the Editor.
Helping Each Other.
Sir, — We all know that we are living in
difficult times. Workshops for the blind
all over the country are finding it more and
more difficult to find work for the increasing
number of blind who seek employment.
There is an old saying regarding making a
livelihood by " taking in each other's
washing." I am not going to suggest this
as a solution of our difficulties, but the
Recommendation of the Royal Commission,
although made over 40 years ago, applies
with equal force to-day : " Institutions
should purchase from other blind institutions
anything they may themselves have orders
for and do not make."
The Barclay Workshops for Blind Women
gratefully acknowledge the help of about
twelve other institutions who sell their
hand-woven goods on commission, sometimes
at a local sale, sometimes in their local
showroom. The Committee of the Barclay
Workshops would be very grateful if other
institutions and societies would help in
this way.
A sale of baskets and socks is made more
attractive by a display of the bright cloths
made by the Barclay weavers.
We should be very pleased to send parcels
of goods for inspection.
Yours, etc.,
Henry J. Wagg.
Hon. Secretary.
Barclay Workshops,
19-21, Crawford Street,
Baker Street, W.i.
To the Editor.
Blind Voters.
Sir, — The method of voting at present in
force is a constant irritation to some blind
people. I have frequently heard the com-
plaint that the blind man does not know to
whom he is imparting the secret of his choice
of candidate, or who may be present in the
voting room and overhear. Many blind
persons would, I know, be happier if the law
was amended so as to enable them to take a
relation or friend whom they trusted to th
PAGE
237
BEACON
polling booth to mark the paper for them .
On two occasions in the last few years,
when bills affecting the representation of the
people have been before Parliament, I have
endeavoured to get an amendment included.
Various reasons were advanced against the
proposed amendment, one of which was that
there was no specific evidence of complaint
by the blind persons themselves. I believe
there is a widespread complaint, but it is
true, I think, that no particular complaints
from particular persons have been collected.
The object of this letter is to ask all blind
persons who are willing to help to make a
point of observing precisely what procedure
is adopted by the officials in the polling
booths when they go to vote in the forth-
coming election, and to record this evidence
and express their view about it.
May I ask those who are anxious to see the
law amended to co-operate b}r recording the
evidence of specific cases which will, I think,
be so valuable in convincing the authorities,
and to send it to me in due course.
Yours, etc.,
Ian Frasek,
Chairman,
St. Dunstan's.
London .
MUSIC STUDENTS' COMPETITION
To Discover and Encourage Talent for Musical Competition in Young Blind Students.
T
HE First Music Students'
Competition was inaugu-
rated by the National In-
stitute for the Blind last
year, 1930. The rules for
the 193 1 Competition are
as follows : —
1. Persons Eligible.
Any blind person resident in Great Britain
and Ireland under 25 years of age on 31st
December, 1931.
2. The Test.
The Test-piece to consist of a single
movement (not exceeding three minutes
in performance) in any one of the following
styles : —
(1) Unaccompanied Vocal Quartet or four-
part Chorus, the words (sacred or
secular) to be selected by the candidate.
(2) Movement for a two or three Manual
Organ of ordinary resources.
(3) Movement for Piano and Violin ; or
Piano, Violin and 'Cello.
(4) A String Quartet (1st and 2nd Violins,
Viola and 'Cello).
No candidate to submit more than one
work, which must be certified as his own
unaided effort.
3. Manuscripts.
x\ll manuscripts submitted should be in
" Staff " notation. Transcriptions from
Braille into " Staff " notation must be
arranged by each competitor, but should
there be insuperable difficulties, the National
Institute may be able to assist. All manu-
PAGE
238
scripts remain the property and copyright
of the Composers.
4. Competitors' Names.
Each competitor should adopt a nom-de-
plume, and this nom-de-plume should be
given on the manuscript submitted. It should
also be given on the outside of a sealed
envelope containing the correct name and
address of the competitor, which should
be securely attached to the manuscript.
5. Prizes.
It is proposed to offer five prizes, i.e. : —
1st prize . . Five guineas.
2nd prize
3rd prize
4th prize
5th prize
The right to
Four guineas.
Three guineas.
Two guineas.
One guinea,
withhold a prize, if and
where the standard of merit is considered
insufficient by the Adjudicator, is reserved.
6. Closing Date.
All manuscripts should be received by
the National Institute for the Blind before
20th February, 1932, and should be addressed
to The Secretary, Music Students' Competi-
tion, National Institute for the Blind,
224, Great Portland Street, W. 1.
7. Adjudication.
The Adjudicator's decision will be final.
No correspondence will be entered into in
connection with the Competition.
8. Publication of Results.
Results will be published in The Braille
Musical Magazine, The New Beacon, and
other publications of the National Institute.
cZ^cJ\fcw
Published by %F II, l\ f f % fV Editorial Offices:
the National r\ |"< /— % I I I ^ 224 Great Port-
Institute for 1 I / % \ ,\ / ^1 /an</ S/reef.
//.<■ fi/iW JL>^ J— * A lL V • V^_>^ X ^ London. W.I.
DEPRESSION AND PUBLICITY.
THE rule of the da\ is economy, and every Institution dependent on charitable
donations is naturally overhauling its expenditure. One item — the amount
expended on publicity and advertising — is particularly easy but particularly
dangerous to cut. To cut it entirely is suicide — as though a man decided
to save money by spending nothing on food and so eliminating himself
by starvation. To cut it partially is exceedingly difficult, because, in times
of depression, intensive efforts are needed to obtain voluntary offerings
from an impoverished public. The right course is to make a comprehensive survey of the
whole problem, and to establish a reasonable ratio between effort and result.
If an unemployed Londoner sees a good chance of getting a job in Leeds from a personal
interview, he must be prepared to pay the train fare ; and if a charitable Institution sees a
good chance of securing financial support, it must fully acquaint the presumptive supporter
with its objects and needs. Charitable appeals may be likened to applications for situations.
In times of depression an applicant must write many well-compiled letters before securing a
post ; and in times of depression, a charity must write many well-compiled appeals before
securing a donation. To cut down expenditure on publicity and advertising in these days
is to lop off a leg whose knee is weakening ; to provide an extra support to the knee is more
truly economic.
SEGREGATION OF THE BLIND.
Captain Marchant, of the London County Council, gave the Charity Organisation Society
at its Annual Meeting on October 12th a lucid account of the L.C.C.'s work for the blind, all
the more interesting because he did not avoid expressing opinions. His views on some
questions, notably on secondary education for the blind, seemed to us unsound and untenable.
But we have to recognise that in the world of the blind many matters of policy are still
controversial. The important thing is that issues should be presented fairly and faced
honestly, for only so can final solutions be found.
The question of segregation of the blind cropped up with some persistence in Captain
Marchant's address. Blind babies, he thought, were best in the care of their mothers. We
agree, provided always that the mothers are capable and the homes tolerable. Institutions
are per se second best. The L.C.C. policy of educating children in day centres in preference
to residential schools is also an open question which must be discussed as part of the larger
question whether blind children can, or should, be educated in the ordinary elementary schools.
Complete association of blind and sighted children throughout their education is still a novel
idea to us.
The highly developed system of blind classes and sight-saving classes in Cleveland, and
elsewhere in the United States, is a logical policy and will repay much closer attention than has
hitherto been given to it in this country. There is a strong movement in America against
segregation at any stage of work for the blind. Mr. Migel, the President of the American
Foundation for the Blind, related the other day that the workshop for the blind at Worcester
— where the Kodaks come from — had been shut down because of a deliberate policy
of placing blind workers through a placement agency in sighted occupations, rather than in
a sheltered workshop.
The ideas here suggested may seem heretical to some readers of The New Beacon.
Even heresies have their use in stimulating thought and indicating where truth lies.
The Editor.
pagk
239
BEACON
METHODS OF REMUNERATION.
Bv BEN PURSE.
IT is apparent from a large number of
letters received that these articles are
proving to be instructive and useful
to many readers. It is not possible
here, however, to reply to the numer-
ous questions that have been sub-
mitted ; these will be dealt with at
an appropriate time. Our present task is to
give a detailed explanation of the various
systems of wage payments that are being
operated by large employment agencies in
different parts of the country. This task is
not nearly completed, and until it has been
found possible to examine these systems more
closely, the personal opinions of the writer
must as far as is possible be held in reserve.
So far as we have proceeded, four systems
of wage payments have been detailed. No
one distinctive feature may be said to be the
common possession of these employment
agencies, though there are certain details
that are of almost universal application.
Each system of wage payments possesses
some important feature of interest which
enables the authors of the schemes to view
them with an unusual measure of approval,
and it may well be that the ideal system has
not yet been evolved. Some authorities
claim that a system of piecework, accom-
panied by a liberal subsidy, suggests the
most satisfactory and the most equitable
method of meeting the requirements of the
blind worker ; others are convinced that
such a system should be accompanied by a
graduated scale of pavments, such as will
yield the highest amount of augmentation to
the least speedy and least efficient workman.
There are those, however, who see no
redeeming feature in either of the systems
herein described, but who hold that a pro-
perly safeguarded minimum wage presents
the only effective way of providing a decent
standard of life for the employee.
We have already seen that the managers
of certain institutions who have been won
over to this point of view have so surrounded
their systems of minimum wage payments
with regulations under which the workers
are graded, that a true system of minimum
wages is not in any real sense reflected through
PAGE
24O
their organisations. We are not speaking in
any sense disparagingly of their activities.
Tike most of us, they are striving to evolve
the ideal system, and their efforts may
surely be regarded as a step in advance of
those agencies whose arrangements have
undergone no radical changes during the
past ten years.
We cannot presume to order a system of
minimum wage payments for the blind in
precisely the same way as a captain of
industry can determine what rates of pay-
ment he will make to his employees. Minimum
wages are fixed with the certain knowledge
that production cannot but be registered at
a given level. Those who are charged with
the responsibility of fixing the rates know full
well what the average worker is capable of
producing, and if expectations are not
realised, then the ordinary employer quickly
displaces the slow and inefficient workman ;
in no other way could industry be made to
yield the wages and the profits which con-
stitute the justification for its operations.
Institutions for the blind cannot act in this
way ; the slow and inefficient workman is
often retained, though departmental mana-
gers know that he is frequently occupying a
place that pure economic considerations
would determine should be given to a more
skilful artisan. When we talk glibly there-
fore of the payment of a minimum living
wage, we cannot disregard the fact that an
industry can only yield such a return as is
determined by the labour value put into it,
and if it is burdened by charges out of all
proportion to its commercial yield, its
existence is short-lived. It will be obvious,
however, that if institutions for the blind are
required to pay these uneconomic rates,
they can only do so by making very large
demands either upon voluntary resources or
upon the great body of already over-bur-
dened ratepayers. Tet us make no mistake,
however, in this connection ; it is utter
foolishness to speak of such payments as
minimum wages ; they are nothing of the
kind. They are grants made in the form of
relief, of which real wages constitute an
insignificant proportion. We shall have more
BEACON
to say later, when we are discussing in an
intimate fashion the relationship between
economic earnings and grants made for
relief purposes.
Let us, therefore, proceed to consider in
detail the attitude of yet another employ-
ment agency, the Royal Institution for the
Blind, Birmingham. This organisation was
established in the year 1846, and for many
years past has held a premier position among
kindred organisations. The managers have
been fortunate in having at their disposal
during the past forty years chief officials who
have been possessed of quite exceptional
administrative ability. Few institutions in
the country have such an unbroken lecord of
usefulness, and still fewer enjoy the confi-
dence and patronage of so large a population.
This confidence and patronage is reflected in
the substantial amounts received annually
in the form of subscriptions and donations,
and it must be consoling to those in charge
of the financial side of the undertaking to
know that during the past few years,
although we have been suffering from an
acute industrial depression, the institution
has continued to receive increased financial
support from the public. It is quite true that
difficulties have been and still are experi-
enced in keeping so large a body of workers
fully employed, but considering the ratio
of unemployment in the Midland countries,
the authorities of the Birmingham institu-
tion may legitimately claim a reasonable
measure of success. The number of blind
workers employed is 142 men and 69 women,
the average attendance in the workshops
during the last three years varying between
133 and 147.
The wage system in operation at this
institution is that of piecework, with a
maximum augmentation grant of 22s. 6d.
per week for men and 20s. per week for
women.
It must be understood, however, that
when we speak of maximum augmentation
we are not thinking of the grants made to
married persons on behalf of wives and
children. These allowances are as follows :
2s. weekly to a married man in respect of
his wife, is. 6d. for the first child, and is. for
every additional child of school age. Where
husband and wife are both employed by the
institution, marriage allowance is not paid.
Men receive augmentation of 22s. 6d. per
week on earnings of 10s. or less, falling
id. in the shilling on earnings between 10s. and 20s.
2d. ,, ,, ,, ,, 20s. and 30s.
3d. ,, ,, ,, ,, 30s. and 40s.
4d. ,, ,, ,, ,, 40s. and 50s-
6d. ,, ,, ,, ,, 50s. and 60s.
providing a minimum late of augmentation
of 9s. 2d. per week on earnings of 60s. or
more. Women receive augmentation of 20s.
per week on earnings of 10s. or less, which
falls 3d. for every additional shilling earned
to a minimum of 10s. on earnings of 50s. or
more.
In view of the prolonged trade depression
and the difficulty associated with the raising
of funds, it has been suggested that the
scales of augmentation now in operation
should be reduced, but no definite decision
has yet been reached.
As in previous articles we have been able
to give interesting figures disclosing the
amounts derived by economic earnings and
those paid in the form of subsidies, we are
here privileged, by courtesy of the manage-
ment of the Birmingham Royal Institution
for the Blind, to append some striking
statistics setting forth particulars of earnings
and grants which have had to be provided
during the past three years. These figures
give rise to a good deal of anxious thought
on the part of those who are generally inter-
ested in the various implications of the
problems they suggest, but to the manage-
ment of this particular institution they must
be a cause for serious concern. Whenever
relief grants soar to a higher figure than that
attained by economic earnings, the manage-
ment of an industrial undertaking may well
be disturbed, for there is a very real danger
that the cardinal objects and purposes of the
enterprise are being undermined. No one
will question the benevolent intentions of the
management of this institution, but we
would have preferred a growth of economic
earnings rather than so serious a develop-
ment of responsibility on the charitable side.
The amount of wages and augmentation
paid to the employees during the last three
years was as follows : —
Wages. Augmenta-
tion.
1928-29 . . . . £8,981 £8,678
1929-30 . . . . 9,222 9,326
1930-31 .. .. 8,875 11,761
It is quite impossible to examine the
numerous schemes in operation without
PAGE
241
BEACON
Reeling disturbed as to the multiplicity and
variety of the methods employed. It is not
surprising that there should be a considerable
measure of discontent among the employees
when they realise the tremendous variations
in treatment and conditions meted out to
them. The time has surely come when a
serious attempt should be made to promote
uniformity in a sphere of service where
conditions are so unequal and disorganised.
It must not be rashly assumed that wide
variations in rates of payment and augmen-
tation of wages grants are in any real sense
due to the whims or caprices of institution
managers. Doubtless, these officials have
their decided preferences, but as practical
people they are ever conscious of the fact
that their own predilections cannot be per-
mitted to stand in the way of clearly thought-
out systems of remuneration, such as we
have been discussing here. These arrange-
ments must at all times be capable of the
closest scrutiny, and no one realises this
fact more than the officials of institutions for
the blind.
Though the variations in these systems and
methods are oftentimes somewhat discon-
certing, it must be conceded at once that
they do not result from hasty improvisation .
An immense number of factors go to the
making up of each, and local conditions often
play a not insignificant part in shaping the
policy and deciding which system can be
applied to an area with the greatest advan-
tage to the blind employees. It is simply
unmitigated nonsense to say that " when
wages and augmentation grants are being
considered, the interests of blind workers are
subordinated to all other external factors."
None but those who are quite ignorant of the
issues involved talk in this fashion, and
incalculable harm results from such superficial
thinking.
A wise administration, undertaking a new
method of calculating wages and subsidies,
is bound to consider every aspect of the
situation. Care must be devoted to securing
the most advantageous markets in which to
purchase raw material. The costing system
must be right in order that production
charges can be vouched for, and overhead
expenses must be properly related to the
genera] scheme of management. The selling
organisation must be closely co-ordinated
with every other business detail of the
PAGE
242
enterprise, and the entire undertaking must
be capable of being visualised as a whole
before other large and far-reaching expendi-
ture can be super-imposed upon any com-
mercial or industrial concern.
It has been stated publicly over and over
again that any institution for the blind can
always claim the goodwill of the community,
and it is said, " No rates of payment they
care to make would ever be deemed too high
so long as the advantage is to go to the blind
worker." Unfortunately, however, economic
problems cannot be solved by such shallow
complacency, and conclusions of this kind
only exist in the minds of those who have no
conception of business management. So
long as our ability to provide is determined
by our productive capacity, the limits of our
generosity will be bounded by that renew-
able surplus which results from the produc-
tive labour of others. That surplus will be
large or small in proportion to the general
prosperity of the community.
It is obvious therefore that we need more
and more to concentrate our energies
upon the discharge of an ever-increasing
volume of useful effort. It is only by this
that the margin of charity will be narrowed
and our productive skill appraised at its
proper value. Our object should be not to
seek to obtain the maximum amount of
charity, but so to arrange our affairs as to
give the largest quantity of productive
effort in order to attain the real status of
citizenship.
(To be continued.)
Royal Victoria School for the Blind,
Newcastle-on-Ty ne .
The 92nd Annual Report for the year
ending 31st March, 1931, states that there
were at the close of the year 93 children
in the school and 60 students in the training
department. The head master, Mr. Robert-
son, has reached the retiring age, and has
therefore resigned after thirty years' devoted
work in the interests of the blind children,
and his place has been filled by Mr. R. C.
Phillips. The photographs which illustrate
the Report, and show the children in the
kindergarten, the students in their cookery
kitchen, or engaged in mattress-making,
machine-knitting and cork fender-making,
give an interesting picture of the work that
is being done by the Institution.
BEACON
UNION OF COUNTIES ASSOCIATIONS
FOR THE BLIND.
o
Northern Counties Association for the Blind.
N Friday, September 18th.
1931, the Northern Coun-
ties Association for the
Blind held its Quarterly
Meeting in the Town Hall,
Bradford, under the chair-
manship of Mr. A. Siddall.
The Lord Mayor, Alderman A. Pickles,
J. P., welcomed the delegation, and papers
were given by Dr. L. A. Williams, of Brad-
ford, and Mr. F. W. Boddy, of the Daisy
Hill School for Myopes, Bradford. Dr. Kay
Sharp, of the West Riding County Council,
opened the discussion.
The Association had been considering
the problem of the Partially Blind and had
appointed a Sub-Committee to go into the
matter. This Committee made certain
recommendations, one of which was that
the local authorities should consider the
desirability of treating high-grade myopes
under sixteen in Schools for the Blind.
The problem of the care and education
of myopes had also been raised in the course
of discussion at the North Regional Con-
ference of Certifying Ophthalmic Surgeons,
held on June 30th, 1931. As there was a
difference of opinion as to whether myopes
should or should not be dealt with in associa-
tion with the blind, it was thought desirable
to have an expression of opinion from
experts who now had definite experience
on which to base conclusions. Dr. Williams
explained the medical reasons for the
occurrence of myopia ; what was done in
Bradford in the Special School and other-
wise ; also the results of the policy and the
conclusions to be drawn from it. He
stressed the need for frequent examination
of the eyes in all cases.
Mr. Boddy gave an account of the work
done at the Daisy Hill School, and expressed
the conviction that no boy or girl who
would in all probability have to earn a
living as a sighted person should be brought
up in a School for the Blind.
Dr. Kay Sharp urged that Schools for
Myopes should be caUed Sight-Saving
Schools, that they should be residential
if possible, and that, in order to avoid inter-
fering unduly with the child's education,
" progression " in the myopia should be
definitely established before admission to a
Special School. He agreed with Mr. Boddy
that a School for Myopes should not in
any way be associated with a School for
the Blind, and stressed the need for distin-
guishing between myopes and the partially
blind. He recommended those interested
in this problem to read a book, entitled
" School Vision," by Dr. James Kerr (Allen
andUnwin).
The day before the Conference, Councillor
J. W. Flanagan, Chairman of the Blind
Persons Act Committee, Bradford, conducted
about 20 of the delegates in a special bus
round the various Institutions, the Daisy
Hill School for Myopes, the Workshops
for the Blind, the Oakhurst Home for Women,
where excellent hand knitting is clone, and
the Centre of the Home Teaching Service
where a social gathering of the unemploy-
able blind was being held. In passing from
one Institution to another, attention was
called to the provision made in other depart-
ments of these social services for which
Bradford is so justly renowned.
A full report of the meeting and of the
three papers given may be had on applica-
tion to the Secretary of the Northern
Counties Association for the Blind, 274,
Deansgate, Manchester.
South- Eastern and London Counties Associa-
tion for the Blind.
The Annual Report of the Essex County
Association for the Blind is the record of a
hard-working, orderly Association grappling
valiantly with a big problem. Individual
care and sympathy and unsparing effort
go far to overcome the limits placed upon
its help and upon the help of the Essex
County Council by economy, now stricter
than ever. All who are interested in the
people of Essex should read this report.
Copies can be obtained from the Secretary
at 40, Duke Street, Chelmsford.
The Annual Report of the Hastings
Voluntary Association for the Blind sets
PAGE
243
BEACON
clearly before its public the task confronting
the Association, and its need of increased
support, particularly in money, to accom-
plish this task, in spite of being fortunate
in having much voluntary work done for it.
To meet increasing demands, expansion,
with the establishment of an assistant
secretary, has been necessary. (The in-
auguration of the Hastings County Borough
Council's scheme of relief to the Unemploy-
able Blind is of later date than the report.)
Copies can be obtained from the Hon.
Secretary, at 6, The Uplands, St. Leonards-
on-Sea.
The Kent County Association for the Blind
publishes its Eleventh Annual Report, em-
bodying reports from its ten Local Com-
mittees in the populous parts of the county.
The marked step forward of the year has
been the decision of the Kent County
Council to set up a special Blind Persons
Act Committee and that Committee's first
action in arranging to supplement the in-
comes of the necessitous unemployable blind
of the county so as to raise them to 20s.
a week, beginning on 1st April this year.
Copies of the report can be obtained from
the Secretary at 1, Crescent Street, Sitting-
bourne, Kent.
The West Ham Association fov the Blind
publishes its Second Annual Report, a
very human account of excellent work.
The people of West Ham may give their
help to their blind fellows through this
efficient channel with confidence that it
will be well used. The year has been the
first of operation of the West Ham County
Borough Council's scheme to raise the
incomes of the unemployable blind to 25s.
weekly (and 47s. 6d. weekly to blind married
couples). This has enabled the Association
to use its voluntary funds for all the other
forms of relief which are needed as well —
luckify, at the same time that its voluntary
income has been less on account of general
industrial depression. The Association is
active in giving help and its voluntary
funds need money urgently. Much hard
and sympathetic work is done at a small
cost owing mainly to devoted voluntary
work. Copies of the report can be obtained
from the Hon. Secretary at 63, Tennyson
Road, Stratford, E. 15.
The Hertfordshire Society for the Blind
may be justly proud of the fact that two
PAGE
244
of its blind workers have won prizes in the
special open competitions for the blind,
held in the Royal National Eisteddfod of
Wales, in August. One prize was for a boy's
wheelbarrow and the other for a wool rug.
Sales and orders have resulted from the
entries.
North-Western Counties Association for the
Blind.
The North- Western Counties Association
regrets to announce the death of Miss
Margaret Comber on the 21st August, 1931.
Miss Comber took a very active part
in the formation of the North Western
Counties Association for the Blind, and
acted as Hon. Secretary to this Association
from the time of its inception in October,
1908, until March, 1927. After her resigna-
tion of the secretaryship, she was elected
Vice-Chairman of the Association. She held
this post until March, 1930, when, acting
on her doctor's advice, Miss Comber with-
drew from all public work.
Miss Comber was for some years a Member
of the Committee of the Chester Society
for the Home Teaching of the Blind and
acted as Hon. Treasurer to that Society for
a considerable period. She retained her
interest in all work for the welfare of the
Blind until the end.
Mr. F. J. Bell, the blind Superintendent
Home Teacher of Ashton-under-Lyne, writes
the following appreciation : — ■
" I am very sorry indeed to learn of the
death of Miss Comber. Those of us who have
known her for a number of years can appre-
ciate the work she did for the North Western
Counties Association. That she had its
welfare at heart was evident by the manner
in which she attended to all its business,
and the interest she took in all matters
relating to the blind. The Association
is a standing memorial to her great work
for the blind in the North Western Counties.''
Presentations to the Dean of Bangor. — At
the end of March this year, the Dean of
Bangor retired from the position of Chairman
to the North Wales Home Teaching Society
for the Blind. The Dean had been assoc-
iated with the Society for twenty-six years
and had been Chairman for the greater
part of that time. It was felt fitting that
some presentation should be made to him
as a slight recognition of all he had done
BEACON
on behalf of the Blind in North Wales,
and on the 3rd of September, a meeting
was held at the Old Vicarage, Bangor, when
he was asked to accept a writing-case from
the Home Teachers, and a silver salver,
appropriately engraved, from the Com-
mittee and friends.
Miss Leonora Davies, the senior Home
Teacher, made the presentation on behalf
of the Home Teachers and Miss Althea
Vincent handed the salver to the Dean.
Speeches eulogising the Dean and the
work he had done for the Society and the
interest he took in all work for the benefit
of the Blind were made by Major John
Roberts, the present Chairman of the Society,
Miss Leonora Davies, Lady Williams, Mr.
John Wickens, Mr. T. E. Purdy, etc.
During the course of the speeches Bishop
Campbell, Lady Verney, Miss Ellis and Mrs.
Young, of Bangor, were mentioned as
having interested themselves in the forma-
tion and maintenance of the Society. The
Committee very much regret, however,
that the name of Mr. T. Webster, who for
many years acted as Hon. Treasurer and
Hon. Financial Secretary to the Society,
was omitted ; Mr. Webster's work for the
Society and his generous expenditure of
time on its behalf were not forgotten.
The Dean of Bangor, in thanking for the
gifts, said that it was a sense of duty which
made him resign, as he felt that his age
prevented him doing all that a Chairman
should do for a Society. He outlined the
changes which had taken place during the
twenty-six years and spoke of the growth
of the work and the increase in the number
of blind persons on the Register. He also
referred to the Grants which were paid to
the Society and by the Local Authorities,
after the passing of the Blind Persons Act,
1920 (these Grants being now merged in
the Block Grant paid by the Local Authori-
ties), but pointed out that there was still
as much need as ever for voluntary con-
tributions.
The Editor of The New Beacon will be happy
to receive, with a view to publication, news items,
photographs , correspondence and original articles
relative to all subjects connected with the conditions
and welfare of the blind in all parts of the world.
They should be addressed to The Editor, The New
Beacon, 224., Great Portland Street, London, W.l.
RECENT
PUBLICATIONS
Museums and the Blind.
Under this title, the National Institute
for the Blind has just published the second
of its " N.I.B. Bulletins " (price 3d.). The
pamphlet describes the experiment made
by Mr. J. A. Charlton Deas, M.A., Director
of the Sunderland Museum, and the pioneer
of the movement for showing conducted
parties of blind persons the treasures of
museums.
The Bulletin is specially written for Home
Teachers as well as for schools, as it is felt
that many Home Teachers would find visits
to Museums capable of giving a great deal
of pleasure to the adult blind with whom
they have to do. It closes with a list of
about forty museums in many parts of
England where the Directors have promised
facilities to parties of blind persons.
Puzzles for the Blind.
New pastime occupations for the blind
aie always eagerly sought by Home Teachers,
and in difficult times of economic stress
like the present, it is not always possible
to supply sufficient material to keep occupied
the less competent pastime worker who is
not capable of producing saleable goods.
Home Teachers then will be interested to
hear of the work done by Dr. Alexander,
O.B.E., formerly Medical Officer of Health
for Poplar, who is devoting much of his,
time to making woodwork puzzles, which
the blind man can solve by touch. The
objective of many of them is to fit irregular
flat pieces of plywood or cardboard into
geometrical figures ; one interesting example
given is that of eight pieces of wood which
have to be put together to form a cross.
In order to obtain a supply of puzzles,
Dr. Alexander has enlisted the services of
readers of The Handicrafts Magazine. Pic-
tures of the puzzles, and careful directions
as to their construction, are given from time
to time in the pages of this magazine,
and readers are asked to send them when
complete, either to Dr. Alexander at Bank-
side, Ferry Road, Teddington, or to the
National Institute for the Blind.
PAGB
245
BEACON
SPORTS CLUB ROWING REGATTA.
T
HE Rowing Regatta, to cele-
brate the end of the first
5 ( ar's boating and the
close of the Summer Sea-
son, was held on the
Regent's Park lake on
Saturday, ioth October,
1931. It was a successful gathering, twenty-
six members entering for the various events,
which were keenly contested.
The three outstanding competitors were
Miss Carrie Foster, who won the Class " A "
Ladies' single sculls in fine style ; Miss
V. Blayney, who won the Class " B "
Ladies' single sculls by the handsome margin
of 6 lengths ; and Mr. John May, who won
the Men's single sculls by a boat's nose
after a fine race against Mr. John Yates, and
with Mr. Charles Brown won the Men's
double sculls somewhat easily.
The Snail Race proved a popular success,
as many ladies and gentlemen entering as
the width of the lake permitted, and several
being unfortunately unable to find a place
on the water. Time did not permit of this
event being rowed in heats, although at
the next meeting this will have to be done.
The race was won by Miss C. Till, coxed by
Mrs. Johnson, and great skill was shown in
keeping the boat moving with almost im-
perceptible sculling strokes.
Mr. G. F. Mowatt, President of the Club,
presented the prize medals on the Centre
Island after a felicitous little speech, and
cheers were given for him and for Mr. C. E.
Rose, the rowing coach.
Much praise was due to the lady coxswains
for their skilful help. In addition to Mrs.
Johnson, already mentioned, they were
Miss Eames, Miss Rix, Miss Earle, Miss Moss
and Miss Recacheff. Thanks were also
expressed to Mr. Johnson, " Fred " and
" Hubert," who got the boats off in rapid
style.
Full Results.
Class " A " Ladies' Singles.
1st Heat Miss Foster . . 1 length.
2nd Heat Miss Wood . . \ length.
Final Miss C. Foster . . 1 length.
Class " A " Men's Singles.
1st Heat Mr. J. May . . \ length.
2nd Heat Mr. A. Coulson . . 2 lengths.
Final Mr. John May . . Boat's nose.
PAGE
246
Class " B " Ladies' Singles.
1st Heat Miss L. Tucker . . 1 length.
2nd Heat Miss I. Fairclough i| lengths.
3rd Heat Miss V. Blayney . . 2 lengths.
Final Miss V. Blayney . . 6 lengths.
Ladies' Double Sculls.
1st Heat Miss Wood and
Miss Perham . . 2 lengths.
2nd Heat Miss Owen and
Miss Foile
length.
Final Miss Wood and
Miss Peiham . . A distance.
Men's Double Sculls.
Won by Messrs. Brown and
May 2 lengths.
Mixed Double Sculls.
Won by Mr. C. Kedwell and
Miss Wood . . . . . . 1 1 lengths.
Snail Race.
Won by Miss C. Till.
Medical Massage.
The third annual dinner of the Chartered
Society of Massage and Medical Gymnastics
was held this month at the Connaught Rooms.
Mr. R. C. Elmslie, who was in the chaii,
announced that Lord Moynihan was to be
their next president.
Captain Ian Fraser, proposing the Society,
said that the profession or art of massage had
been associated with blind persons for a
generation or more. Blind masseurs would
always remember the help they had received
from the Society in learning their profession,
and blinded soldiers — whom he particularly
represented — would be especially grateful.
He was afraid that large numbers of the
medical profession even to-day did not
give the masseurs their proper due. On
the other hand, so many were entering
the profession that he thought it possible
the Society were allowing too many to
practise.
Mr. R. C. Elmslie, responding, said that
their present membership of 8,000 might
be thought to be too many if they were
all practising, but this was not so, and he
would remind Captain Fraser of the high
standard of examination that candidates
had now to pass before they were admitted.
Medical massage was one of the most impor-
tant accessory medical treatments, and that
this was recognised was shown by the fact that
BEACON
medical students had now to study the subject.
The growth of the Society, Mr. Elmslie
continued, had been very remarkable, owing
to the increasing, recognition of physical
treatment as an adjunct to medical treat-
ment. Special departments for ma sage
and electricity were established at all the
large hospitals, and at most of the smaller
institutions it was usual to employ qualified
workers to administer the forms of treat-
ment prescribed. Local boards on which a
number of medical men and women serve
had been appointed in vaiious areas for
Scotland, Southern Ireland, and for the
North-western counties.
New S.P.C.K. Braille Books.
The latest Braille publications of the Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge and the Sheldon
Press, S.P.C.K. House, Northumberland Avenue,
W.C.2, are as follows : " A Place Called Gethsemane,"
by A. C. Buchanan, is. 6d. " My Prayer Book," a
Collection of Prayers, is. " The Christian Doctrine
of God," from the Lambeth Conference Report, is.
Scholarships for the Blind, December, 1931.
The next Examination for Gardner's
Trust Scholarships of the annual value of
£40, tenable at the Royal Normal College
for the Blind, Upper Norwood, S.E.19, will
be held on Saturday, 5th December, and
Monday, 7th December. Candidates must
ha\e reached the age of sixteen on or before
the date of the Examination, must have
resided in England or Wales for the last
five years and be intendirg to remain so
resident. Application should be made to
the Principal on or before Saturday, 21st
November, and the forms, properly filled
in and completed, returned to the College
on or before Saturday, 28th November, or
the candidate's name will not be placed on
ACHIEVEMENTS
OF THE BLIND
Successful Music Student.
Miss Constance Marguerite Newton, a
pupil at Henshaw's Institution, Manchester,
has added a first-class pass in music at
Durham University to a list of previous
honours. In the intermediate and senior
Trinity College examinations a few years
ago she secured the prize for the highest
marks, in 1928 she gained her teacher's
diploma for the piano, and in 1930 won a
gold medal for organ plaving at the
Warrington Musical Festival.
Challenge to Blind Chess Players.
Mr. Rupert Cross, a blind Oxford under-
graduate, recently issued a challenge to blind
chess players, offering to play ten of them
simultaneously. Only six opponents pre-
sented themselves, but all were chess players
of considerable ability. Mr. Cross, however,
won every game.
A Blind Swimmer.
Mr. Frank Mallalieu (Harrogate), who is
totally blind, has recently secured both the
bronze and silver medals and the certificate
of the Royal Life Saving Society, and the
Harrogate Swimming Club Certificate for
one mile. In order to secure the former
awards he had to swim twenty-four lengths
of the bath fully clothed and find and retrieve
an object from the bottom of the bath.
Mr. Mallalieu has been a swimmer for about
eight years, but it is only since he lost his
sight (nearly four years ago) that he has taken
so keen an interest in this form of exercise.
A Blind Baptist Minister.
Mr. Arthur Richard Lloyd, M.A., of
Swansea, who has been blind from birth,
has recently been ordained into the Baptist
ministry. Mr. Lloyd was educated at
Worcester College, and at Oxford, and later
took up a teaching appointment at the
Swansea and South Wales Institute for the
Blind. He won the Blanesburgh Cup at the
recent National Librarv Reading Competition.
An Organist's Career.
An account of the career of Mr. J. Buckley
Thompson, R.A.M., is given in a recent copy
of The Methodist Times. Mr. Thompson,
who has been organist of the Victoria Street
Wesleyan Church, Douglas, I.O.M., for some
years, and is about to retire, is said to owe
much to his sister who, for nearly seventy
years, has read musical compositions at
home, giving her brother the notes bar by
bar. He can play all the principal oratorios
and has a knowledge of all the tunes in the
Wesleyan Methodist hymn book.
Royal Normal College Results.
Sydney Wells passed the Oxford and
Cambridge Joint Board School Certificate
Examination with credit.
Margaret Brand and Lilian Smith took
Latin as an added subject and passed with
credit.
PAGE
247
PERSONALIA
Canon C. E. Bolam, F.R.Hist.S., Rector
of Grcatford, Lincolnshire, and Hon. Chief
Chaplain of the National Institute for the
Blind, has been appointed by the Earl of
Ancaster to the Rectory of Willoughby,
near Alford, Lincolnshire. From 1914-1915
Canon Bolam served as chaplain to the
reserve battalion of the Lincolnshire
Yeomanry, of which the Earl of Ancaster was
colonel. Canon and Mrs. Bolam expect to
go into residence at Willoughby in November.
The marriage has taken place of Captain
Robinson, C.S.M.M.G., " B.P.A. (late
Punjabis) and Miss Ann Adey, an indefatig-
able worker for the blind and associated
with many of the activities of the Greater
London Fund. Captain Robinson, who had
a distinguished career in the army and after-
wards in a military and political capacity in
India, was trained in massage, medical
gymnastics and medical electricity by the
National Institute for the Blind some three
years ago, and has since built up a very
successful private practice in Balham, where
he has a well-equipped clinic.
Mr. W. H. Coates, the author of the
article in the September issue of The New
Beacon, was educated at Worcester College
and Oxford, and later qualified as a masseur
at the National Institute Massage School.
He returned to Oxford, where he is in private
practice, and has a well-equipped massage
and electrical clinic.
REVIEWS
REPORTS
Greater London Fund for the Blind.
The Tenth Annual Report for 1930-31
states that H.R.H. The Duchess of York
has acceded to the request of the Committee
and become patron of the Fund. The
year has been a specially difficult one,
and the resources of the money-raising
staff have been severely taxed ; " decline
in trade, increasing unemployment and the
reduction of dividends have all had their
adverse effect." In the circumstances, the
annual effort of the Printing and Kindred
PAGE
248
BEACON
Trades Blind Aid Committee, whose total
net result rose from £3,600 to £4,000, is
more than usually encouraging, and the
Greater London Fund is deeply indebted
to its workers, whose interest in the welfare
of the blind is unfailing.
Mission to the Blind of Burma.
The Annual Report for 1930-31 is, as
usual, a very interesting one of work carried
out under conditions of great difficulty —
" convulsions of nature, upheavals of society,
economic distress and political unrest "
have all made the way of the Society a
hard one, and the absence of the Director,
Father Jackson, who has been on furlough
in England, has added to the problems
to be faced. Two interesting new ventures
are alluded to, one being a dairy business
which has been started by a blind man,
and the other a small school for adults who
are anxious to learn to read and write
Braille. " Not only is all well, but also all
is bettering," is the brave note which is
sounded in the report.
College of Teachers of the Blind.
The Twenty-third Annual Report for
1930-31 states that the College now numbers
371 members. It has lost by death during
the year some of its most valued friends,
in the persons of Mr. H. J. Wilson, one
of the founders of the College and its first
Chairman, Mr. G. H. Gadsby, the former
Secretary and Treasurer of the Southern
Branch, and Mr. Northcombe, the Superin-
tendent of the West of England Institute,
Exeter. The report gives an account of
the various meetings held during the year
by its branch societies, and notes with
satisfaction the recent formation of a Scottish
branch. A joint Committee of the College
and the National Institute for the Blind
has been formed to deal with the question
of educational research.
Barclay Home and School for Blind Girls,
Brighton.
The Thirty-eighth Annual Report for
1930-31 describes as the chief event of the
year the building of an extension to the
Children's Playroom, at a cost of about
£1,500 ; the sum of nearly £600 has been
raised towards the cost, and the Committee
earnestly hopes that further contributions
BEACON
may be forthcoming. The report notes
with deep regret the resignation of Mr. H. J.
Wagg, to whose untiring interest the Home
is very deeply indebted.
Henshaw's Institution for the Blind.
The Ninety-first Annual Report for
1930-31 gives a very full account of the
work of the Institution, and is illustrated
with photographs of the furniture depart-
ment, weavers and knitters at work, and
Scouts and " tinies " enjoying themselves.
Mr. W. H. Thurman, the new Director, began
his work in January of the present year,
and the report also notes the appointment
of Mr. Hanley as Headmaster. It is satis-
factory to read that, in spite of trade diffi-
culties, there has been an increase in the
number of contracts obtained by the Work-
shop department. A Kindergarten and
Holiday Home for Blind Children, the
generous gift of Mr. and Mrs. Longden,
is to be erected at Marple.
Union of Counties Associations for the Blind.
The Report of the Union of Counties
Associations for the Blind for 1930-31,
differs from its predecessors in that the full
reports issued by its constituent Associations
are not embodied in it, though a summary
of these is given ; the change in format
makes the report a very pleasant one to
handle. Statistical tables are given as
before, and a very useful list of local agencies
in relation to the Counties Associations and
to the Union.
The Union celebrated its twenty-first
anniversary during the year covered by the
Report ; it owed its inception in 1909 to the
late Mr. Henry Wilson, whose work as a
pioneer in the cause of blind welfare it
would be impossible to over-estimate.
Perhaps the most interesting develop-
ment which has marked this anniversary
year has been the work of the newly-formed
Prevention of Blindness Committee. Already
considerable investigations have been made,
and the pre-school child, school child, and
industrial worker will all in time come within
the scope of the Committee's activities.
Among other subjects dealt with in the
course of the year by the Council have
been the conditions for the award of charity
pensions, the provision of suitable accommo-
dation for blind and deaf mentally defective
children, the question of the limit of means
in the assessment for pensions, and the
transfer of Home Workers from one area
to another and its relation to grant paid.
Royal Midland Institution for the Blind,
Nottingham.
The 87th Report for the year 1930-31
records the loss that the Institution has
suffered in the death of Mr. J. Crosby
Warren, who for many years had given
devoted sendee as hon. secretary and hon.
solicitor. The Royal Midland Institution's
work covers a very wide field, including the
home teaching and welfare work throughout
the county of Nottingham and the adminis-
trative area of the Derbyshire County Council
and the supervision of home workers in the
counties of Nottingham, Derby and Lincoln,
in addition to the technical training and the
workshop employment given within the
Institution. A new workshop for women
has been opened during the year, under the
management of a former technical teacher.
Evening classes (which include cookery
lessons), physical training and games, a
holiday fund for workers and an old pupils'
fund are all interesting features commented
upon in the Report.
OBITUARY
We much regret to report the deaths of : —
Dr. James Graham, Director of Education
in Leeds, who died very suddenly in London
on 15th September. Dr. Graham was a
member of the Advisory Committee on the
Welfare of the Blind, of the Council of the
National Institute for the Blind, and a
member of the General Committee of the
Northern Counties Association for the Blind,
and his exceptionally wide knowledge both
of general educational problems and of those
relating to technical education made his
work for the blind of the highest possible
value.
His early career, as outlined in a recent
number of Education, was one of strenuous
effort in the face of many difficulties, and the
resolute determination he showed from young
manhood to acquire an education that
PAGE
249
cJtic3\'ac
BEACON
comprised so wide a range as a knowledge
of modern languages, economics, account-
ancy, and art should be an inspiration to all
who read of it.
At the age of 24 he was appointed Inspector
of Schools for Higher Education in the West
Riding, and remained in that service for
nearly twelve years, frequently travelling
on the Continent to gain knowledge of
educational methods in foreign countries
for the benefit of the West Riding County
Council. For more than twelve years he
was one of 1he two English representatives
on the Executive Council of the International
Association for the Promotion of Technical
Education.
He was made Director of Education in
Leeds in 1906, so that he celebrated twenty-
five years of service in that city a short time
ago. Perhaps his greatest work there was
the part he played in the erection of a
residential training college in Beckett Park,
which provides for the training of 300 women
and 180 men.
His work during the war included con-
spicuous service in connection with the
Ministries of Munitions, National Service,
Food and Labour, and latterly he acted as
Director of the training of disabled ex-service
men for the whole of Yorkshire.
The honorary degree of Doctor of
Philosophy was conferred upon him by the
Leeds University on the occasion of the visit
of the British Association to Leeds in 1928.
Dr. Graham was one of the members
nominated in 1925 by the Advisory Com-
mittee on the Welfare of the Blind to the
Council of the National Institute for the Blind.
He was later appointed Vice-chairman of the
Finance Committee. As a member of this
Committee and of the Council he gave
generously of his wide knowledge and
experience, and his many friends in the
Council and on the Institute's staff hold in
affectionate memory the depth and breadth
of his wisdom, the staunchness of his friend-
ships, and his devotion to the cause of
the blind.
In a tribute to his memory Mr. J. H. S.
Aitken has summed up the sense of loss that
his colleagues feel : —
" We mourn his loss, but we think of the
greatness of the service he has rendered.
His life has been one of devotion to duty.
Devoid of self-seeking, time revealed his
immense capabilities and splendid talents. . . .
He spent himself in the service of others
His counsel was sought after, his opinion
was held in high regard, and he was uni-
versally trusted. He was beloved by his
friends, and many lives are immeasurably
poorer for his passing."
Mr. C. G. Henderson, founder of the
All-India Blind Relief Association, who
died very suddenly last month. Mr.
Henderson was in England at the time,
but had hoped to return to the work
in India in October. He began his
work of prevention in India in 1913,
while a Government official in the Indian
Civil Service, and by his own strenuous
efforts built up a wide-spread organisation,
its special aim being to carry relief to the
very door of the sufferer from preventible
blindness, by the setting up of travelling
hospitals, and the employment of field-
officers who sought out cases of blindness,
and urged all those whose condition might
be improved by operative treatment to
accept such treatment.
Mr. Henderson was present at the New
York Conference in the spring, where he
sought to arouse interest in the work of
blindness -prevention in India. It was im-
possible to talk to him without realising his
single-mindedness in the task to which he
had set his hand, and his loss will be greatly
felt by those who were his colleagues in the
All-India Blind Relief Association.
T. Alfred Kennion, at Gloucester, on
July 19th. Mr. Kennion recently broadcast
an account of his treasure-hunt in Mexico,
and a month before his death, he, although
blind, had determined not to relinquish
his quest.
Roland Holt. — Those familiar with the
work done for the blind in America by
Mrs. Mather {ne'e Winifred Holt) will learn
with regret of the death of her brother,
Roland Holt, who was associated with her
in all her endeavours. In the early stages of
the existence of the New York Association
for the Blind, the work was carried on in the
private house of Mr. Holt and his sisters,
and he cheerfully submitted to all the incon-
venience and lack of privacy that this must
have entailed. For ten years Mr. Holt
edited every report and most of the propa-
ganda issued by Lighthouse No. 1, and the
blind had in him a sympathetic and untiring
friend.
PAGE
250
BEACON
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE^BLIND
NEW PUBLICATIONS
MUSIC.
The prices of the following pieces of music are subiect
to a reduction of three-quarters for the blind resident
in the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
The minimum price is 6d. per copy.
ORGAN— s. d.
11.013 Guilmant. Characteristic Piece in the
Phrygian Mode (from " Pieces in
Different Styles," Book 18, Op. 75) 2 o
11.014 Handel. Overture to " Otho " (arr. bv
W. G. Alcock) 20
Hollins. A Trumpet Minuet . . ..20
Karg-Elert. Ein1 feste Burg (Choral-
Improvisation, Phantasie), Op. 65,
No. 47 . . . . . . ..20
1,015
1,016
PIANO
11,017
,019
,020
11,025
DANCE—
11,026 A
Associated Board Examinations, 1932 —
Studies and Pieces — Preliminary
Division (Exercises, Pieces and
Specimen Aural Tests)
Primary Division, Lists A, B, C
Elementary Division, Lists A, B, C
Lower Division, Lists A and B . .
Arne, Michael. The Lass with the
Delicate Air (arr. by Alfred Moffat)
Chopin. Andante Spianato and Grande
Polonaise Brillante in E flat, Op. 22
(Klindworth Edition)
Pain, Eva. Favourite Tunes (arranged
for little pianists)
Park, Moore. Molly at the Zoo (Five
Descriptive Pieces) . .
Samuel, Harold. Two Sketches
NGS-
,030
1,036
3 8
M. I like a little girl like that
Song Fox-Trot
Ahlert, F. E. Ain't that the way it
goes ? Song Fox-Trot
Romberg, S. Nina Rosa (from the
Musical Play, " Nina Rosa "), Song
Fox-Trot
Ward, E. Just an hour of love (from
" Show of Shows "), Song-Waltz . .
Bax, Arnold. I Heard a Piper Piping,
B minor ; Bx — El
Elliott, Ernest. The Song of the '
Tinker, G ; B1— Dl
Greville, Ursula. Pedlar's Song, C
minor ; C — D1
Howells, Herbert. Old Meg, E flat ;
D flat— E1
Schubert. Lay of the Imprisoned
Huntsman (Unison Song)
Scott, Cyril. In the Silver Moonbeams
(Old French Melody) A ; E— E1 . .
Somervell, Arthur (arr. by). The
Snowy-Breasted Pearl (Old Irish
Air), E ; E— G1
Warlock, Peter. My Own Countrv,
F ; C— E1
BRAILLE BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire
per vol.
10,813 *Betty's Friend, by Margaret Stuart s. d.
Lane. Grade 2, Intermediate size,
Interlined, Stiff Covers. B.69 . . 73
10.975 Buried Quotations No. 1, with Key . . id. net
10.976 Buried Quotations No. 2, with Key . . id. net
10,814-10,815 *Frida of Long Dyke Farm, by s. d.
Margaret Stuart Lane. Grade 2,
Intermediate size, Interlined, Stiff
Covers, 2 vols. B.117 .. ..63
10,816-10,817 *Gilbert the Page, by Elizabeth
Kyle. Grade 2, Intermediate size,
Interlined, Stiff Covers, 2 vols. B.78 4 6
10,818-10,820 *Heroes in Friendship, by Basil
Mathews, M.A. Grade 2, Inter-
mediate size, Interlined, Stiff Covers,
3 vols. B.171. .. .. ..60
10.821 *His Word of Honour, by Douglas
Grant. Grade 2, Intermediate size,
Interlined, Stiff Covers. B.21 . . 2 9
10.822 *In Strange Company, by Harold Avery
Grade 2, Intermediate size, Inter-
lined, Stiff Covers. B.44 . . ..49
10,823-10,824 * Joanna of Little Meadow, by
Ierne L. Plunket. Grade 2, Inter-
mediate size, Interlined, Stiff Covers,
2 vols. B.87. . . . . . ..49
10,459-10,460 Little Books of the Bible. Grade
2, Intermediate size, Interlined,
Stiff Covers, 2 vols. B.90 . . ..50
Vol. 1. — The Story of David, by
Nesta Minshall ; Stories of
Jesus, by Alice Massey ;
The Story of St. Paul, by
Margaret Baker.
Vol. 2. — The Story of Daniel, by
Herbert Strang ; Stories of
the Prophets, by Jocelyn
Oliver.
10,831 *Little Books of the Bible. Grade 2,
Intermediate size, Interlined, Stiff
Covers. B.28 . . . . ■ • 3 3
Story of Joseph, The, by Herbert
Strang.
10,825-10,826 *Lost in London, by Herbert
Strang. Grade 2, Intermediate size
Interlined, Stiff Covers, 2 vols. B.84 4 9
10,827-10,828 *Match-Box Hero, The, by
Agnes Frome. Grade 2, Inter-
mediate size, Interlined, Stiff Covers,
2 vols. B.90. . . . . . ..50
10.829 *Nick and Diccon, by Margaret Baker.
Grade 2, Intermediate size, Inter-
lined, Stiff Covers. B.45 . . ..50
10,698-10,705 Peveril of the Peak, by Sir
Walter Scott. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Cloth Boards, 8 vols.
G.606 . . . . . . . . . . 9 3
10,706-10,710 Queen Dick, by Alfred Tressider
Sheppard. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Cloth Boards, 5 vols.
G.347 8 6
10.830 *Red Roof Farm, by Joan Leslie.
Grade 2, Intermediate size, Inter-
lined, Stiff Covers. B.55 . . . . 5 9
Way of Literature The. Edited by Ernest de
Selincourt, M.A., D.Litt., Inter-
mediate size, Interlined, Stiff Covers.
10,839-10,842 tThird Book. Compiled by Freda
M. Buchanan, M.A. (Edin.), and
Eglantine M. J ebb, M.A. (Oxon.).
Graduated Braille, 4 vols. B.235.. 6 3
10,847-10,851 fFifth Book. Compiled by
Professor de Selincourt. Grade 2,
5 vols. B.283 60
PAGE
251
BEACON
10,852-10,856 f Sixth Book. Compiled by s. d.
Professor de Selincourt. Grade 2,
5 vols. B.314 . . . . ..66
*i4 lines per Interm. plate ; 30 characters per line.
Size of character unchanged.
■(•14 lines per Interm. plate ; 34 characters per line.
Size of character unchanged.
MOON BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
3,104-3,109 Pam's Own Story, by Baroness
Von Hutten, 6 vols (Limited Edition)
per vol. . . . . ..120
3,038 Things to Live For, by J. R. Miller,
vol. 4 (Devotional Periodical) . . 36
(British Readers) . . . . ..23
3.088 Four Additional Loose-Leaf Hymns,
per hymn . . . . . . ..01
3.089 Alphabet and Quotation (Extract from
Lincoln's Speech at Gettysburg) . . 01
NATIONAL INSTITUTE STUDENTS LIBRARY."
ADDITIONS.
BIOGRAPHY.
Vols.
Churchill, Winston. My Early Life . . 5
Seeley, Major-General J. R. R. Adventure . . 5
ENGLISH LITERATURE.
Bunvan, John. Life and Death of Mr. Badman 3
HISTORY.
Josephus, Flavius. Life of Himself . . . . 1
Liddell, H. G. History of Rome . . . . 13
LAW.
Keir, D. L. and Lawson, F. J. Cases in Con-
stitutional Law . . . . . . 9
THEOLOGY AND RELIGIONS.
Pringle-Patterson, A. Seth. Idea of God . . 6
Pullan, L. Religion Since the Reformation . . 5
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND.
ADDITIONS— SEPTEMBER, 1931.
FICTION.
Ayres, Ruby M. In the Day's March . .
Beresford, J. D. Seven Bobsworth
Bower, Marian. The Quince Bush
Bramah, E. Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat
Edwards, A. Cecil. Persian Caravan . .
*Everett Green, E. Gladys or Gwenyth
Ertz, Susan. Galaxy
Freeman, R. A. Shadow of the Wolf . .
Galsworthy, J. Captures (Short Stories)
Gower, M. Leveson. Fighting Six
Hutten, Baroness von. Maria
Jacob, Naomi. Power
Keverne, R. The Man in the Red Hat. .
Laing, K. The Red Horseman
Lowndes, Mrs. Belloc. Duchess Laura. .
Mahon, T. (Editor). Cold Feet
Peterson, Margaret. Flame of the Forest
Raymond, E. The Old Tree Blossomed
Rea, Lorna. Rachel Moon
Sutherland, Joan. Secret Places
Swinnerton, F. Shops and Houses
Wallace, Edgar. The Terror
White Face
*Walpole, H. and J. B. Priestley. Farthing
Hall
MISCELLANEOUS.
Bruce, T. B. (Ed. by E. D. Cumming). Missing
Caldwell, T. (Selector). Golden Book of Modern
English Poetry, 1870-1920
♦Produced by West Craigmillar.
Dunsterville, Major-General L. C. Stalky's Vols.
Reminiscences . . . . . . . . ■ • 4
Eddington, A. S. Science and the Unseen
World (Swarthmore Lecture, 1929) . . . . 1
Edith Mary Moore. A Girl in the Modern
World (With introduction by Cardinal
Bourne) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Frazer, Sir James G. Myths of the Origin
of Fire (An Essay). (E. W. Austin Memorial) 5
Initiate in the New World, by " His Pupil " . . 3
Jewson, E. M. Religion and Fairyland . . 1
Kellett, E. E. Story of the Myths (for the use
of Students in Training Colleges, and
others) (E. W. Austin Memorial) . . • • 4
Knickerbocker, H. R. The Soviet Five-Year
Plan and Its Effect on World Trade (E. W.
Austin Memorial) 3
Lucas, E. V. Out of a Clear Sky . . . . 1
Mariejol, J. H. (Translator, John Peile). A
Daughter of the Medicis (E. W. Austin
Memorial) . . . . . . . . • • 4
Maurois, A. Byron (E. W. Austin Memorial) . . 8
Nicolson, H. Some People . . . . 3
Owen, Rev. G. Vale. Facts and the Future
Life 3
Perry, W. J. Origin of Magic and Religion . . 3
Priestley, J. B. Open House : A Book of
Essays . . . . . . . . 3
Raymond, E. T. Through Literature to Life . . 3
Tradition and Experiment in Present Day
Literature (E. W. Austin Memorial) . . 3
JUVENILE.
Ballantyne, R. M. The Lifeboat . . . . 5
Longbottom, Eva. Cousin Eva's Dreamtime
Stories (Short Stories) . . . . . . . . 1
Wilkinson, Neville. Yvette in Venice and
Titania's Palace . . . . . . . . . . 2
Wilson, Theodora W. Old Testament Story
(Told to the Children) 2
GRADE III.
Shaw, G. B. Getting Married : A Play . . 3
Tolstoi, Count O. N. Ivan the Fool ; Two
Pilgrims ; What Shall It Profit a Man ? . . 1
ESPERANTO.
Andree, S. A. Per Balono al la Poluso. . . . 8
Butler, M. C. (Compiler). Himnaro Esperanta 3
Mair, A. Vienaj Legendoj . . . . . . 1
Monnens, T. S. J. Nova Afriko 1
Vreese, J. de, S.J. Esperdona Islando. . .. 1
MOON.
Delafield, E. M. Obstacle 1
Freeman, M. W. Great Pine . . . . . . 1
Hardy, T. Master of John Horseleigh . . 1
Reid, A. War Hero 1
ADVERTISEMENTS
Wanted by young LADY (27) post as HOME
TEACHER. Good knowledge of Braille, and blind
administration generally. Willing to sit for exams.
Write BM/NMPN, London, W.C. 1.
Fully qualified HOME TEACHER, with varied
expeiience at home and abroad, requires post. Excel-
lent testimonials. Write E. H., c/o Editor, New
Beacon, 224, Great Portland Street, W.i.
EXPERIENCED LADY HOME TEACHER, fully
certificated, desires appointment — excellent testi-
monials and references, thoroughly qualified in blind
administration. Apply M.D., c/o Editor, New
Beacon, 224, Gt. Portland Street, London, W. 1.
Printed by Smiths' Printing Co. (London and St. Albans), Ltd., 22-24, Fetter Lan
BEACON
A MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF THE BLIND
Vol. XV.-No. 179. NOVEMBER 15th, 1931. Price 3d.
3S. PER ANNUM, POST PREI.
Enured as Second Class Matter, March 15, 1929, at the Post Office at Boston, Mass., under the Act of March 3, 1879 [Sec. 397," P.L. and R.)
THE TEACHING OF MUSIC IN
INSTITUTIONS FOR THE BLIND
By SINCLAIR LOGAN, L.R.A.M., A.R.C.M., A.R.C.O.
I BELIEVE it is generally acknowledged that music, in some form or other, should always
be taught to the blind, except in those rare cases — rare among the seeing and rarer
still in blind children — where there is no ability whatever. Blind children must, of
sheer necessity, use their ears considerably more than seeing children do, and any
educationalist knows that music encourages such aural discrimination and power of
sound-analysis as nothing else can create. It is not yet sufficiently understood how
vital and necessary a factor is music in the education of the seeing child. For the
blind it is of even greater value from a psychological standpoint. It gives them the best
possible means of self-expression, and affords them a defence against that natural tendency to
introspection which every blind person must fight.
The Right Kind of Teacher.
The teacher who is to be of any real value must be one who realises this tendency of the
blind to think and grow inwards upon themselves instead of outwards. This was one of the
secrets of the brilliant success of Sir Francis Campbell, that he realised this to the full, and
dealt with it. The right kind of music-teacher, then, is one who will not only encourage
technical efficiency in the pupil, or even be content with a highly developed musical ear. He
must do more than this, setting out with the realisation that the seeing child absorbs most
of its reinforcements of vitality through the eye. This special teacher, then, must by his
enthusiasm, art, and sensitive intelligence, develop in the pupil the power to listen in such
a way that he shall obtain aurally what the seeing child absorbs visually — the power to absorb
music so that its recuperative forces may permeate and vitalise his whole mind and being.
If the music-teacher does this sufficiently well, the blind pupil will quickly learn to absorb
stores of vitality from other things which he hears, such as the sounds of nature, the throb
of an engine, and such things. These will not be mere sounds, beautiful or exciting as the case
may be, but will recreate him in the same way as a picture would if he could see. It is neither
BEACON
wise nor necessary to point out these things
to the pupil. As I say, if the music has
been taught sufficiently well, and if a suffi-
ciently sensitive power of reception is
encouraged, these other things will come of
themselves.
Further, the teacher of the blind must
never lose sight of the fact that the pupils
are to be trained, not so much as efficient
blind people belonging to a world of the
blind, but rather as perfectly normal folk
suffering under a most inconvenient handicap.
Children are never too young for the teacher
to keep this fact constantly in view. Lastly,
and chiefly, this teacher must be head-over-
ears in love with music, and must have that
special power to evoke, in blind pupils of
any age, a corresponding enthusiasm. A
burning and insatiable enthusiasm is the
best thing in life, and if a teacher only
produces this he has gone a great way to
justifying his existence. "When choosing a
music-teacher, the authorities of an insti-
tution for the blind should keep these con-
siderations in view, and should be satisfied
with nothing less.
The Methods of Teaching.
Assuming that the right kind of teacher
has been selected, I shall not attempt to
discuss details as to special methods. The
good teacher can be trusted to use any
sound educational methods which he thinks
necessary. I would point out, however,
that where the teacher is accustomed to
sighted children some readjustment of his
ideas will be necessary. For example, the
five-year-old blind child has a very much
more highly developed ear than sighted
children of the same age ; thus many aural
problems are made easier. On the other
hand, the problem of holding the attention
of the child, which would normally be done
through the eye, is made considerably more
subtle. The actual cause of inattention is
less easy to discover in a blind child. It
may come from that lack of vitality which
the teacher is to train him to overcome.
However, whatever the cause, the cure is for
the teacher to see that what the child hears
shall interest him and hold his attention.
I mention this because, although it is
necessary also with sighted children, it
must be given rather special attention with
the blind. It should not be necessary for
me to point out that, later on, when it comes
PAGE
254
to the use of Braille music-notation, great
attention must be given to the correlation
of finger and ear, just in the same way that
aural and visual impressions are linked up
in the case of sighted children.
Memorising.
From a practical standpoint, this is one
of the most important factors in the educa-
tion of the blind musician. As soon as the
child can write and read Braille reasonably
well, Braille music-notation should im-
mediately be introduced. Proficiency in
both reading and writing of Braille music
should be insisted upon. No blind child
should grow up unable to memorise music
from Braille. If the pupil is being trained as
a professional musician, he should be taught
to memorise in three ways : one, from Braille ;
two, from having the music played over to
him ; and, three, from verbal dictation.
I should hope that recourse to the third
method would not often be necessary,
but it should be taught, at least sufficiently
well for a hymn-tune to be memorised. I
once had to memorise a hymn-tune in this
way, in church during a service. It was
the only way, as the tune, which had been
suddenly selected, was not in Braille. There
have been other occasions when I have found
this method sufficiently useful for me to
recommend it highly in the training of
students. Accuracy, I think, has always
been insisted upon. It certainly has been
at that most excellent of musical institutions
for the blind, The Royal Normal College.
I think that more attention should be
given to rapid memorising in the training of
students for the musical profession. There
are cases — in certain inferior types of song-
accompaniments, for example — when speed
is even more important than accuracy.
The blind musician who has formed the
habit of scrupulous accuracy in memorising
will soon learn, if speed is also encouraged,
to recognise the type of music in which too
great accuracy in memorising is not essential.
The wise teacher will, of course, not tell his
pupils this in so many words, but will
comment wisely and helpfully when a
memory-test is submitted to him. Of course,
children naturally memorise fairly quickly.
Rapid memorising, therefore, as a specific
element in musical training, need not be
insisted upon until the period of adolescence.
May I remark, in passing, that I have heard
BEACON
that there are institutions in the country
where Braille music is not used. This is
not only ridiculous, but an absolute disgrace.
From the lowest standpoint, the indepen-
dence of the pupil should be given more
consideration than this. The National In-
stitute for the Blind should see to it that
any schools under their jurisdiction make
Braille music-notation an essential part of
the musical training, whatever kind of
school it may be, so long as it exists for the
training of children and youth.
Listening to Good Music.
May I again point out the splendid example
of the Royal Normal College for the Blind.
They have always seen to it that pupils of all
ages should hear plenty of good music.
Weekly recitals and lectures are given by their
leading music-teachers. The pupils are taken
to any number of good concerts and lectures.
Wherever possible, this should be made a
point of, as a magnificent stimulus. There
are all manner of possibilities in this direc-
tion with the gramophone and the radio.
The advance programmes of the B.B.C.
might be perused, certain works selected
for study, and listened to with the maximum
of appreciation when performed. If it is
known that a large work is to be performed
anywhere, gramophone records can be ob-
tained, and the music become familiar
to the students. If gramophones and radio
are to be of any real educational value,
however, the best possible instruments should
be selected with infinite care. The indis-
criminate use of these amenities in schools
should be discouraged, a wise and tactful
supervision and guidance always being
exercised.
Extemporisation.
Extemporisation should be encouraged,
with discretion, for several reasons. For
one thing, it forms a very useful means of
self-expression. Further, it is a very good
way to encourage familiarity with the key-
board, and will train a pupil to find his
way about it easily and quickly. Again, it
is useful, in the case of the professional
musician, to be able to improvise.
Stringed Instruments and Ensemble
Playing.
Ensemble singing, both for soli and chorus,
has been splendidly provided for up till
now. The Royal Normal College choirs,
Mr. Piatt's choir in Birmingham, and Mr.
Osborn's choir at Swiss Cottage have testified
to the good work done in this direction.
Other forms of ensemble music, however,
have fared less well. There is no greater
stimulus or finer musical training than
ensemble music. Piano duets should be
further encouraged, also works for two pianos.
(There is an excellent repertoire of these
available, and some special transcriptions
of such works into Braille should be made
for schools.) Stringed instruments should
be taught to the blind. For some reason
they have been neglected in the past, and
this should be remedied. The playing of
stringed instruments, both in solo and en-
semble, would widen the musical outlook
of the blind musician to an incalculable
extent. Think of the joys and educational
advantages of a school orchestra, to say
nothing of string quartettes, violin or 'cello
and piano sonatas, and other delightful,
stimulating, and absolutely invaluable forms
of ensemble ! In my opinion, there might
be a rich new field open to the really good
blind string-player, be he soloist or ensemble-
player. I suggest enthusiastically and em-
phatically that this matter should be taken
up. It would bring new life into the world
of the blind musician.
Classes for Teachers.
In institutions which prepare the blind
as professional musicians, teachers' training-
classes should be introduced. This is now in
practice at the Royal Normal College.
Such classes enable a blind teacher to
commence work better equipped. He needs
all the equipment he can obtain to make up
for the inevitable lack of experience with
which his professional life begins. These
classes should have instruction on the
following lines : Some elementary psycho-
logy, which will give him some idea how to
deal with different types of pupil ; instruc-
tion on the broad principles of education ;
hints on good teaching music, with explana-
tions as to why it is good ; discussion of the
faults most commonly met with, with sug-
gestions for their correction ; questions
calculated to produce resourcefulness and
thought in the members of the class ; broad-
minded explanations of varying methods of
teaching. Other persons should occasion-
PAGE
255
ally be brought in for purposes of demon-
stration, so that the class members may
gain some little experience under super-
vision. In the case of a class for singing-
teachers, instruction should be given in the
physiology of the organs used in singing,
elementary practical phonetics, and some
explanation of any special characteristics of
speech, so that the prospective teacher may
understand the cause of certain faults
which would otherwise be inexplicable to
him. Wherever such classes as these have
been tried, the interest evoked in the pupils
has been more than sufficient to justify
their being.
Some Further Suggestions.
The art of accompanying should be taught,
encouraged, and every opportunity sought
and given for practical experience. Pupils
should accompany each other, and I would
suggest that people from outside be invited
to apply to the institution for an accompanist.
I firmly believe that blind students should
have every possible chance of meeting and
mingling frequently with sighted people,
and as accompanists this would be achieved.
In the past, it has always been rightly
asseited that it is good for a blind person
to take his or her place in a social gathering,
and that he should be able to play his
piece or sing his song. I have found it of
even greater value to be able to accompany,
BEACON
and to have at my disposal a large repertoire
of song and violin solo accompaniments.
This gets one into still closer touch with the
sighted world, and opens all kinds of possible
avenues. (Another plea for quick memoris-
ing, by the way.)
It goes without saying that every blind
musician should have a thorough knowledge
of staff notation. Again, he must have a
wide knowledge of many and various types of
music, that he may show himself able to
hold his own in the world of such things.
Let me say in conclusion that the ex-
perience of the successful blind musician is
of the greatest value to blind students. He
is better able than anyone to tell him what
he wants to know, and to pass on to him
the fruits of ripened experience. The skilled
blind teacher is not only advisable but essen-
tial in the institution, and while sighted
teachers are also necessary for some branches
of the work, the blind teacher should never
be excluded if the best results are to be
obtained. In those institutions where music
is a speciality, an able sighted teacher should
give particular attention to deportment,
platform manner and appearance, and other
such essentials. The education of the blind
musician is incomplete if this is omitted.
Let us have, then, in the institution for the
blind, blind music-teachers, sighted assis-
tants, and a supremely sensitive co-operation
existing between.
HOME NEWS
New Braille Music Advisory Committee.
The Education and Research Committee of the National Institute for the Blind
has decided to appoint a Music Publications Sub-Committee to advise on the selection
of music for publication in the Braille Music Notation. The following have been invited
to serve : Dr. Ernest Whitfield, Mr. H. Watling, F.R.C.O., L.R.A.M., Mr. T. Osborne,
F.R.C.O., Mr. H. V. Spanner, Mus.Bac, F.R.C.O., L.R.A.M., Mr. Sinclair Logan,
L.R.A.M., L.R.C.M., A.R.C.M., Mr. H. C. Warrilow, F.R.C.O. and Mr. T. Mayhew.
Mr. Spanner's Half- Yearly Organ Recital.
In connection with the monthly series of Free Organ Recitals by Blind Organists
at the National Institute for the Blind, 224, Great Portland Street, W. 1, Mr. H. V.
Spanner, Mus.Bac, F.R.C.O., L.R.A.M., and Lecturer on Musical Appreciation to the
L.C.C., will give his half-yearly recital at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, December 2nd, 1931.
The programme will consist of the three set pieces for the Fellowship Examination
and selected items from the Associate List. The organ at the National Institute is a
replica of that at the Royal College of Organists, and is, therefore, particularly appro-
priate for the presentation of such a programme. Blind and seeing organists are alike
welcome to attend this recital.
PAGE
256
BEACON
Progress of the White Stick Movement.
Mr. Bernard J. Ellis, writing to The London Rotarian, states that the blind have
been equipped with white sticks, by or through Rotary Clubs, in the following areas :
Chelsea, Inverness, Leyton, Salisbury, Lincoln, Kensington, Stoke Newington, Cardiff,
Aberdare, Scuuthorpe, Eston (Yorks), Grangetown, Worthing, Merthyr Tydvil,
Middlesbrough, East Ham, Yeovil, Reigate, Redhill, West Ham, Putney, Willesden,
Clacton-on-Sea, Warrington, Brigg, Bideford, Shrewsbury, Ashford. To this list must
be added Gateshead, where the local Rotary Club presented on October 29th, 80 white
sticks to 80 blind people at a concert.
Grading Scheme for Blind Employees' Wages at Warrington.
A grading scheme providing wage rates up to a maximum of £2. ys. 6d. for blind
men and women engaged in the workshops in Museum Street and the Society for the
Blind has been approved by the Warrington Town Council. The scheme regulates the
hours of labour, holidays, conditions, etc., of the people.
Councillor Frank Stringer, Chairman of the Health Committee, said there was no
town in England where the blind received such generous treatment from the munici-
pality as they had in Warrington. The cost amounted to a rate of 4fd., the expenditure
having grown from £331 in 1924 to £6,286 this year.
Progress of the Guide Dogs for the Blind Movement.
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Committee met at Liverpool on October 21st. Captain
A. Sington was elected Chairman, Mrs. Bond, Vice-Chairman and Miss M. E. Crooke,
Hon. Secretary. Mr. W. H. Tate, a member of the Executive Council of the National
Institute for the Blind, was co-opted as a member of the Committee, and Mr. W. McG.
Eagar, the Institute's Secretary-General, and Mr. Frankland, the Institute's Branch
Secretary at Liverpool, attended the meeting. Four dogs have been trained at Wallasey
by Mr. Debetaz at the cost of Mrs. Eustis, the director of L'CEil qui Volt, the head-
quarters of the movement in Switzerland. Two of the dogs had been a week or two
with their blind masters and a demonstration was given of their capabilities through
the streets of Liverpool. Considering the short time the dogs had been with their
masters, the results were most satisfactory. A further report will be made after the
dogs have been six months with their blind masters and become accustomed to their
environment. Whether the experiment proves successful or not, great credit is due to
the trainer, Mr. Debetaz, and to Miss M. E. Crooke, of Wallasey, to whose indefatigable
efforts the arrangements made for training the dogs are largely due.
Retirement of Mr. Pretor W. Chandler.
Mr. Pretor W. Chandler, a master of the Supreme Court, retires this year from the
Chairmanship of the Council of the London Society for Teaching and Training the
Blind. For the past twenty-five years he has been associated with the work of the
Society as a member of the Council and later as Chairman. Sir Patrick Fagan was in
the chair, at a gathering of the Council, the staff and pupils of the Society at the School
for the Blind, Swiss Cottage. The retiring Chairman and his wife, Mrs. Pretor W.
Chandler, were presented with a mounted silver bowl by Sir Patrick and the members
of the Council. In thanking them Master Chandler said : " Since my first association
with the work of the Society it has increased ten-fold."
Improvement of Blinded Ex-Service Men's Workshops, Glasgow.
The premises in Glasgow of the Scottish National Institution for Blinded Sailors
and Soldiers are to be formally reopened after considerable structural alterations on
Wednesday, November 18th. Major-General W. J. Maxwell-Scott, Commanding
Officer of the Lowland Division, will perform the ceremony, and Lord Provost Sir
Thomas Kelly will preside. The alterations to the premises have been carried out with
a view to making the building at Queen's Crescent more suitable for the industrial and
social welfare of the men.
PAGE
257
BEACON
Group of Blind Wireless Listeners Formed at Oldham.
Another group of blind listeners has been started at Oldham, the leader being
Mr. H. R. Smith, who attended the Bangor Summer School. This group meets on
Tuesdays at the Gower Street School. The Secretary of the Barrow and District Society
for the Blind is investigating the possibilities of running a blind circle in Barrow.
The Braille Book Review.
Sample copies of the new monthly Braille magazine, The Braille Book Review,
sponsored by the New York Public Library (Henry F. Homes Fund) and the American
Braille Press have been sent out. Its object is to stimulate interest in embossed reading
matter. It will contain reviews and announcements of new books, reading lists on special
subjects, announcements relative to printing presses and libraries, sketches of living
authors, and articles on the best literature of the past. It is in Grade one-and-three-
quarters and seven-eighths Braille. Regular publication begins with the January, 1932,
issue. Nominal registration fee will be 50 cents per annum. Applications giving full
name and address with 50 cents either in stamps or preferably in international money
order should be sent to the Braille Book Review, American Braille Press, 74, Rue
Lauriston, Paris, France. Applicants are requested to put a 2^d. stamp on their
letters.
Opening of New Hall for the Blind at West Croydon.
The new hall for the blind at Bedford Park, West Croydon, was opened last month
in the presence of many blind folk, by Captain Sir Beachcroft Towse, V.C.
The opening ceremony was presided over by the Mayor of Croydon (Alderman
T. A. Lewis) and besides the opener and Lady Towse there were on the platform Mrs.
T. A. Lewis (Mayoress), Alderman and Mrs. J. Trumble, Mr. A. E. Cartwright, Rev.
G. F. Whittleton, Rev. G. M. Scott, Mr. E. E. More and Mr. Charles Wood.
The Mayor, in opening the proceedings, paid high tribute to the work done for the
blind people of Croydon by Alderman Trumble. It was due to him and the many
other friends of the blind in the town that they were in a position to open the beautiful
new hall.
Alderman Trumble, president of the Croydon Voluntary Association for the
Blind, said that Croydon was well in the foreground with regard to work for the blind.
They had succeeded in taking blind mendicants off the streets and providing them with
a small pension. It would have been a disgrace to the civic life of the town if they had
not done so.
When the foundation stones of the Hall were laid, they had received £1,850 of the
£2,500 required. He set himself out personally to get a further £100 and had
succeeded in getting £154. is. In the Hall the blind would have socials, concerts, dances,
etc., and would be able to look upon it as a home.
Sir Beachcroft Towse congratulated the Association on the fine hall they had
provided for the use of their blind friends. Thirty years ago very little indeed was
done for blind people and they had to get on as best they could.
A blind person, said Sir Beachcroft, was never so happy as when he had some-
thing to do. Loss of sight did not mean loss of brain, although it meant that a different
set of conditions had to be faced. It was due to the great amount of work done for the
blind that they were assured of conditions which enabled them to adapt themselves
to their new life with greater ease.
There was not a blind person living who would not say "Thank you" for the
opportunity of working for themselves.
The blind vicar of St. Jude's (Thornton Heath), the Rev. G. F. Whittleton, proposed a
vote of thanks to Sir Beachcroft and Lady Towse. Sir Beachcroft, he said, stood in
the eyes of the people as' the leader and representative of the blind in England.
In seconding the proposal, Mr. P. Ryan, one of the sightless, said the new building
stood out as a monument to the practical generosity of the people of Croydon.
Mr. C. M. Stuart proposed a vote of thanks to the Mayor and Mayoress.
PAGE
2*8
BLIND FARMERS IN YUGOSLAVIA.
THERE are few more active
social workers than Mr.
Ramadanovitch, who was
aptly described in a recent
article in the Outlook for
the Blind as " the driving
force " in work for the blind
in Yugo-Slavia.
Mr. Ramadanovitch has lately sent us
some delightful photographs of the farm-
colony for blind ex-service men near Novi-
Sad. The colony, which is named " Vetre-
A Typical Scene in the Fields.
nik," after a place on the Salonica front
where eleven Serbian soldiers were blinded
in the Great War, has accommodation for
28 ex-service men and ten civilians.
The blind ex-service men are granted a
well-built three-roomed house and a small-
holding, together with their
full pension as " grands
mutiles," and they belong to
an agrarian union in which
they sink their capital, and
through which they are en-
abled to purchase their farm-
ing implements.
The colony is described by
Mr. Ramadanovitch in simple
English, which gives a very
delightful picture of country
life in a self-contained com-
munity. He pays tribute to
the " very good and sound
country girls" whom the
blind have married, and who
are able to work with their
husbands on the land ;
they are " perfectly expert
in all agricultural work "
and lead the horses and
oxen while the blind men direct the plough.
It is a life of great activity, and is thus
described : " They turn up the Turkish
corn and shred it, they tend the cattle and
drive them to pasture, they milk cows,
they prepare butter and cheese, they breed
poultry and collect the eggs from the nests,
they turn up vineyards, cut vines, and
during the vintage gather and press the
grapes."
The community is close to the river
Danube, and within easy reach of beds of
willows, so that the blind
man who is a basket-maker
is able to gather his own
material for his craft. The
town of Novi-Sad is a large
one, and provides an excellent
daily market for the blind
farmer's milk, eggs, poultry,
and vegetabloq.
A Braille libraiy, games,
and an orchestra help to mi
the farmer's leisure hours,
and his children are cared
for in a primary school belonging to the
colony.
Those who direct the work for the blind
in Yugo-Slavia are strongly of opinion that
in a country like theirs, where 85 per cent.
{Continued at top of next page.)
One of the Houses and its Tenants
PAGE
259
BEACON
of the population are small farmers, it is
very desirable that the country-born
blind shall remain in their villages
rather than migrate to towns. Such a
busy and prosperous colony as that at
Vetrenik lends weight to such an opinion.
EMPLOYMENT OF BLIND TEACHERS.
(Reprinted from " Education," October 30th, 1931.)
T
^HE Teaching Staff Sub-Com-
mittee of the London
County Council reported to
the Education Committee
on Wednesday, as follows :
The Council on 15th July,
1930, decided that, in
future, no bJind teacher should be appointed
to a school for blind children. We have since
received a deputation representing the
National Institute for the Blind, the College
of Teachers of the Blind, the Union of
Professional and Industrial Blind, the London
Teachers' Association and the National
Union of Teachers, requesting that the
Council should reconsider its decision.
At tbp council's three day-schools for
Wind children three sighted head teachers,
four sighted assistant teachers and five
blind assistant teachers are employed. There
is no blind teacher on the full-time staff
of the two residential schools maintained
by the Council, but a peripatetic blind
teacher of music is employed in the day
and residential schools. In addition to the
blind persons employed in schools for blind
children, a blind teacher of basket making
is employed at the Rayner's residential
school, where children with dual defects,
deaf and blind or deaf and mentally defective,
are educated.
The question of the employment of blind
teachers is one of much difficulty, and from
time to time we have given the matter our
careful consideration. The number of blind
children in London has, most happily, fallen
considerably during recent years and the
field for employment of teachers in these
schools is thus steadily diminishing. Our
inquiries show that, as a rule, more can be
done in schools for blind children by sighted
teachers than by blind teachers. After
very careful consideration we were led,
though with great reluctance, to recommend
that, in future, blind persons should not be
employed as teachers in schools for blind
children.
The deputation emphasised the desirability
PAGE
260
of employing blind teachers mainly on
account of their personal experience of the
handicap of blindness and their consequent
special ability to deal with blind children ;
in other words, their natural sympathy.
This should be a strong argument in favour
of the blind teacher, but from evidence
which has been submitted to us we are
doubtful whether the blind teacher can
exercise practical sympathy in helping chil-
dren to overcome the handicap of blindness
any better than the sighted teacher. We
think it possible that the sighted teacher
may be better able to create a happy out-
look, and to teach the children to overcome
their limitations and become cheerful and
independent workers.
After a very thorough review of the facts
put before us, we still feel that, in the interest
of blind children, which must be paramount,
the advantage lies, generally, in the appoint-
ment of sighted teachers. If the Council
rescinds its resolution prohibiting the further
appointment of blind teachers to schools
for the blind, it is probable that blind persons
would be encouraged to take courses of
training as teachers and subsequently find
themselves unable to secure employment
on merit in competition with sighted persons.
At the same time we have come to the
conclusion that the terms of the Council's
resolution are capable of a wider interpre-
tation or implication than was intended.
In order to remove the apprehension of the
deputation that so definite a pronouncement
of the Council's views may discourage
blind persons from applying for any employ-
ment in which they can establish their
merit, we recommend that resolution 33
of the Council of 15th July, 1930 (p. 146),
be rescinded ; and that the Council, whilst
adhering to its opinion that, in the interests
of blind children, the advantage lies generally
in the appointment of sighted teachers for
such children, agrees that blind teachers
should not be debarred from applying for
appointments to schools for the blind; and that
the Council be recommended accordingly.
BEACON
ON KEEPING THE BLIND BEFORE THE
PUBLIC
MOST blind people, as all
who work among them
know, have a rooted objec-
tion to anything which
calls attention to their
disability. One sees this,
[_ for example, in their reluc-
tance to carry white sticks or to make use
of guide dogs ; and, though their attitude
may not always be quite reasonable in this
respect, it is certainly understandable. Apart
from his infirmity, the blind man is in every
sense the same as his sighted brother ;
he has the same loves and hates, the same
sense of humour, the same mental outlook,
and the same reluctance to display anything
in the nature of a physical defect. It must
be remembered also that he has had a lot
to put up with from well-meaning but
misguided folk who feel that in his presence
the right conversational note should be that
of the graveyard.
Yet the fact remains that if people had
not taken an interest in his particular
problem, even though this interest may
often take the form of exaggerated sentiment,
the position of our sightless population
would not be nearly so satisfactory as is
actually the case. Welfare work has brought
about magnificent results, till the organisa-
tion of the blind world is to-day a model of
efficiency for all branches of philanthropic
effort. The changed conditions compared
with those existing a century ago are almost
unbelievable.
But all this achievement vvould have been
utterly impossible without the sympathetic
interest of a great number of members of
the general public. It had to be a great
number, for no individual purse could have
borne the enormous expense involved, and
no small band of helpers could have covered
the wide field where personal effort was
required. Funds were needed, and active
workers were needed ; and, given a British
public aware of those needs, one can assume
that they would be abundantly satisfied.
Where a good cause is at stake, even a
falling pound cannot check the flow of
national benevolence.
At the same time, if such help is to be
obtained from the public, the public must
know the why and wherefore. Someone
must explain to them the nature of the
" cause " they are asked to support — in this
case the welfare work that aims at amelior-
ating the lot of those without sight. They
must be told of the existence of their 50,000
fellow-citizens who, day by day and at each
step of their sightless course, are weighed
down by the burden of blindness. They
must be told of the special needs of these
unfortunates, of the work that is being
done to help them, and of the magnificent
self-sacrifice of volunteers engaged in various
kinds of service. Scores of other lines of
information present themselves, but the
ultimate object is the same — -that of con-
juring up in the minds of the public a
picture of our blind population struggling
onwards and upwards. And, having set
the picture there, it must be kept there.
In these days it is not enough to send
out a brief " postal appeal " once or twice
a year. The number of societies and welfare
organisations using such a form of appeal
is legion, and the chance of establishing
by this means a contact sufficiently effective
to draw forth financial assistance is becoming
more and more remote. Secretaries are
embarrassed by increased costs and falling
revenue, while the philanthropist is em-
barrassed not only by the same difficulties
but also by the multiplicity of the demands
made upon him. He too has his budget
problems, but he might be willing to help
more if only he knew something of the
nature and respective merits of the many
objects to which he is asked to subscribe.
If, before the receipt of an appeal, the
addressee knew something of the work
to which that particular appeal applied,
he would surely be more ready to give
a satisfactory response. But such a
state of things is exceptional. The average
secretary does not seem to realise that the
preceding period should have been spent
in preparing the ground. Time after time,
with the reiteration of a cuckoo song, the
name of his society, the nature of its work,
and the needs of those whom that work
benefits, should have been chanted from
PAGE
261
BEACON
the roof-tops. The singer need not be
raucous and blatant — in fact, better not,
for it is largely on the subconscious mind
that he must work during that preparatory
period — but he can at least be persistent.
The cost of an effective method of pro-
paganda to keep work for the blind and its
aims and needs constantly before the public
is slight — almost negligible in comparison
with the results obtained, and yet its effect
on testators, subscribers and donors is plainly
apparent. Also, this particular kind of propa-
ganda causes the public to have a better under-
standing of the blind members of the
community and so brings the latter into
closer social contact with the sighted world.
The means employed to bring about this
happy state of things is that delicate but
potent instrument the editorial column
of the Press. The subject of blindness may
not seem likely to interest the ordinary
newspaper reader, but, if treated efficiently
by an expert publicity journalist, it is one
which can be made to provide the necessary
material for effective propaganda. It
depends for its sustenance on news, news
of the blind world, and this news must first
be found and then treated in a manner that
makes it welcome " copy " for the sub-
editors of the many publications which
constitute our great Press.
It must also be the kind of editorial
matter which, having passed the " sub-
editorial eye and won publication, claims
the attention and rouses the interest of a
reader. This interest may seem momentary,
but it will be sufficient to plant in the sub-
conscious mind a thought connected with
the problems of the blind. Following this,
another fact is presented and another
impression received ; and yet another, till
the cumulative effect is sufficient to bring
the needs of the blind into full consciousness
and materialise abstract sympathy into
concrete benefaction.
Week by week throughout the year,
many millions of people throughout the
country have the case of the blind presented
to them in this way. They see an interesting
heading in this paper, a photograph in that
paper, a few lines at the foot of a column
in another ; they may not notice that their
interest in the blind is being aroused, but
such is actually the case. The propaganda
work is having its effect. M. C.
PAGE
262
RECENT
PUBLICATIONS
"Moods and Melodies."
In "Moods and Melodies" (published by
Messrs. Buck and Harding, 6 and 7, West
Avenue, E. 17), Mr. Ben Purse has collected
into one volume of lyrics and sonnets,
poems which have previously been published
by him in various newspapers and magazines,
together with others not previously printed.
At a first reading it is difficult to realise
that the writer can only see with " the inner
eye " that form and colour in nature for
which he has so keen an appreciation and
love. Such a line as " This fair land clad
in cloth of gold " as a description of autumn,
or that other " Shadows of twilight robe
the world in grey," might be expected only
from the seeing. But a careful reading of
the verses shows that the writer is far more
keenly aware than most of us of the subtler
beauties of scent and sound —
" The falling leaves are crackling 'neath
your feet,"
" The perfume from the dying leaves doth
make
An incense purer than the gift of Rome,"
" The tall trees gently converse in the
autumn breeze."
Perhaps the most attractive of the poems
in the second part is the sonnet written in
Commemoration of the Braille Centenary,
where the writer in the last two lines seems
to sum up all that blind men and women
must feel about Louis Braille —
" Thou gav'st one genius for our very own,
Oh God. Then darkness passed — Now none
are lone."
The keynote of the sonnets is " Let us
now praise famous men," for a large number
of them pay tribute to the pioneers, whose
names, like those of Sir Arthur Pearson,
Henry Wilson, or W. H. Illingworth, are
held in honour by all workers for the blind.
The tributes paid by Mr. Purse to those with
whom he must often have differed in matters
of policy are therefore very attractive in their
warmth of sympathy.
" No kindlier soul e'er breathed Heaven's
own pure air " or "A blameless life spent
in the service of mankind," are generous
words that anyone might be proud to win
from a fellow-worker.
cDficZNcw
Published by If II, [\ i g \ rV Editorial Office,:
the National I^V ■""* /"A I I I X. 224 Great Por'-
Institute for II / 1 \ /\ # I ^J land Street,
the Blind m^r JL-rfjf Ik. V^^ V^_^ Jl ^i London, W.\.
NOT FAR ENOUGH.
IT is satisfactory to learn that the representations of the College of Teachers of the Blind,
the National Institute for the Blind, the National Union of the Professional and
Industrial Blind, and the London Teachers' Association, have led to a reconsideration
by the London County Council of its decision of July 15th, 1930, that in future no
blind teacher be appointed to a school for blind children. This unfortunate decision
was made without consulting the leading authorities on the education of the blind,
and the recommendation of the Teaching Staff Sub-Committee that it should be rescinded
fW& was only to be expected. But the substituted resolution does not go far enough. It
merely agrees that blind teachers should not be debarred from applying for appointments to
schools for the blind. Our own opinion is that no school for the blind should be without one
blind teacher at least, our main reasons being : (1) A blind teacher only can know of the
particular difficulties of a blind pupil — those incidental to blindness — and is the most likely
person to solve them, as he regards them with understanding and without exaggeration ;
(2) A blind teacher is a constant and stimulating example to blind pupils that blindness can
be successfully overcome, and so creates and fosters the self-confidence of pupils.
WHY EDUCATE THE BLIND?
Elementary education is, in this country, compulsory for blind and sighted alike, but
criticism is often directed against the efforts which are made to provide and extend the
facilities for the secondary education of the blind. It is said that such education is of no use
unless it leads directly to employment. In other words, a secondary school or college is blamed
for not being an employment agency.
It is, of course, of vital importance that education should fit the blind boy or girl for
employment, but education is not only training in earning a living, it is training in living a
life. No one would think of denying secondary education to sighted youth because of diffi-
culties in finding jobs ; why, then, should it be denied to the blind ?
A VERY REAL NEED.
Generally speaking, it is unwise for myopic children to learn Braille. The use of Braille
is, of course, a preventive measure, but most myopic children have a marked tendency to read
Braille with their eyes rather than with their fingers, thus eliminating the main reason for its
use. Braille also suggests blindness and must have a deteriorating effect on short-sighted
pupils' minds. Braille, therefore, is not usually taught in schools for myopic children, and
instruction in reading is usually given by means of impressions, prepared by the teacher, of
single letters from wooden blocks. This is a laborious procedure, and the National Institute
for the Blind has recently been conducting an inquiry as to whether there would be a demand
for books printed in large clear type, somewhat similar to the type used in America for myopes,
a specimen of which was included in the May issue of The New Beacon. The response shows
that there is a very real need, and the Institute is now inquiring into the questions of cost of
production and the most suitable books to be published.
It is obvious that the selection should not be confined to lesson books. Myopic children
should have reading matter for amusement as well as instruction, and gems of verse and
prose, such as we find, for example, in The Times Broadsheets, in large type, would not only
be of value to myopic children but to adults and elderly people with defective or failing
eyesight. The prevention of blindness is even more important than the alleviation of blind-
ness, and we hope that the National Institute will be able, even in these difficult times, to
make a beginning, at any rate, in the production of books in clear type. If the demand is
small, the cost may be so great as to prevent the undertaking. Every means, therefore, should
be used to make known to the National Institute the extent of the demand not only in schools
for myopic children, but amongst people who are unable to read ordinary type.
The Editor.
page
263
BEACON
EXPERIENCES OF THE BLIND WORLD.
I. — Some Notes by Mr. Ernest Kessell, C.B.E.
There is no stereotyped method of regarding blindness, because every blind person one meets
is, in some way, different from every other blind person. But individual experiences are
always interesting, and those of Mr. Ernest Kessell, Treasurer of St. Dunstan's, accentuate
the value of a sense of tact and a sense of humour.
borne in upon me that their great desire —
and there is no reason why it should not be
so — is to be treated as normal individuals
who happen to be handicapped.
Not very long ago I called upon a friend
who had lost his sight a few months pre-
viously, and wrote to tell me about it. My
first words were " Look here, old chap, I
am not going to sympathise with you. If
you expect that you are mistaken." " Thank
God, for that," he replied, " your words have
cheered me wonderfully ; thank you for
putting it that way."
I am afraid, too, that at one time I was
guilty of the common offence of thinking
that blind people cannot count for them-
selves, and that it is necessary when going
up or down stairs to say : " There are six
steps, i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, now you are at the top."
An error which many people make, but
which experience teaches one to avoid.
All this kind of thing appears strange to me
after coming into contact with well over
two thousand officers and men who were
blinded in the war — all normal men with the
handicap of not being able to see. They
possessed all the other faculties, and, in most
cases, their cheer iness was, and is, if any-
thing greater than it would have been if they
had retained their sight.
I admit that the first few men with whom
I came into contact in the early days brought
a lump into my throat, and that therefore
it was necessary for me to express sorrow
with them. It didn't take long for me to
alter that impression, and to discover that
nothing was more distasteful to them. Plain
talking from man to man was what they
desired and got.
As time went on I found that these men
who had given so much for their country
abounded in humour, and were always ready
for a joke. It was one of the happiest periods
of my existence to go day by day amongst
hundreds of men and enjoy everyday life
with them.
At the moment I recall the case of a large
MY experiences in connection
with blind people date
back to the early part of
1 91 5, when the late Sir
Arthur Pearson asked me
to assist him with the
I organisation of a hostel
for the newly blinded sol-
diers and sailors who were coming back
from the war. This hostel soon became
known all over the world as St. Dunstan's.
Before that, I was never very much in
touch with blind people. Whenever I did
meet with anyone who was sightless, I had
the same uncanny feeling that others seem
to get. Uncanny, I think, is the right word.
However, my ideas have changed so much
in the last sixteen years that I am not quite
sure whether to say uncanny or weird or to
use some other term. Anyhow, I know I
considered it a most peculiar experience even
to speak to someone who could not see me,
and I felt that he or she should be treated
quite differently from others who could see.
I soon learned that it is no use holding
out one's hand in order to shake that of a
blind person, a thing which one often sees
done by those who have no knowledge of the
Blind World. As a rule, the blind person is
ignorant of the intention, and the sighted
one is so scared that the handshake does not
take place. It didn't take me long to gather
that it was necessary to reach down and
grasp the hand.
Another thing I frequently see people do —
and I suppose at one time I did it myself —
is to point to an object in the distance, when
describing a view to a blind person or telling
him which direction to take. Experience
soon taught me the futility of such a thing.
Most people seem to be of the opinion that
it is necessary to express sympathy with the
blind. A little experience with my blind
friends soon led me to discover that it was a
great mistake to do so. One thing a blind
man doesn't want, in my opinion, is sym-
pathy expressed in words. It was soon
FACF
264
BEACON
ward wherein about twenty men were
supposed to be asleep, with a blinded
sergeant in charge. Smoking was taboo.
The strike of a match was heard. " Who is
smoking," cried the sergeant, to which he
got the reply : " It's all right, sergeant, I
dropped my teeth and I just struck a match
to try and find them."
Upon another occasion I asked a man why
he was walking about instead of getting on
with his particular job. " It's all right, sir,
my colonel is coming this afternoon. We
used to be in the same mess. But," said he,
as he jerked up the empt}'' sleeve where his
right arm should be, and. held up the left
hand upon which only one finger remained,
" the colonel is not in the same mess now,
sir." And he roared with laughter.
I have experienced humour of another
kind, such as the occasion when a lady
visitor on being told that many of the men
were fitted with glass eyes, innocently asked :
" And how long does it take you to teach
them to see through their glass eyes ? "
Which reminds me of another man who
struck a match at night time because he had
dropped a glass eye and wished to recover
it . . .
Treat a man without sight just as you
would treat a man with sight, is my advice.
With one exception ; watch attentively how
you can help him out of any difficulty which
is genuinely a difficulty due to loss of sight,
and help him casually, as it were, and without
any fuss.
OBITUARY
We deeplv regret to announce the deaths
of:—
W. H. Dixson, of Oxford, who was taken
suddenly ill on Friday evening, 30th October,
and died that night. Mr. Dixson was
educated at the Royal Normal College and
Worcester College, and later at the University
of Oxford, where he graduated with honours
in Modern History. All his life Mr. Dixson
was a man of very wide sympathies, but
he will specially be remembered for the part
he played in the encouragement of Braille
reading. He founded the Reading Competi-
tion at the National Library for the Blind,
which has been held annually for about
ten years, and he was also the founder of
the Oxford Students' Library for the Blind.
In 1901 he founded the Oxfordshire Home
Teaching Society for the Blind, now amal-
gamated with the City Society; he was
President of the Blind Social Aid Society,
a member of the Midland Counties Associa-
tion for the Blind, and of the Union of
Counties Associations for the Blind. Mr.
Dixson was a lover of music, and acted as
Treasurer of the Committee of the Three
Counties Competitive Festival in Oxford a
few years ago. He took a warm interest
also in drama, and was a member of the
British Empire Shakespeare Society.
His funeral took place at Manchester
College Chapel, when the lesson was read
by a blind man, and another .blind friend
played the organ. An address was given
by the Principal of the College, who spoke
of the fine way in which Mr. Dixson had
risen above his handicap of blindness,
giving himself in service to his fellows,
and especially to those who were sightless.
J. A. Richey, late Educational Com-
missioner with the Government of India.
Mr. Richey had been seriously ill for some
months, but had recovered sufficiently to
embark for South Africa, where he intended
to winter in the hope of recovery. He died,
however, very suddenly, at sea on the 24th
October. After Mr. Richey 's retirement
in 1928 he continued to influence Indian
education, both by speech and pen, but
that his interest was not limited to educa-
tional matters was proved by the sympathy
he showed during the past year, when his
health was already failing, in work for the
blind in India, especially in the direction
of prevention of blindness. He put his
wide knowledge and experience at the disposal
of the National Institute for the Blind,
gave his time generously to the study of
information available with regard to Indian
Societies for the Blind, and was mainly
responsible for drawing up a Memorial on
the Prevention of Blindness in India, recently
presented by the National Institute to the
Secretary of State for India. His quiet
geniality and his wide insight into difficult
problems will not easily be forgotten by
those who had the good fortune to meet him.
PAGE
265
BEACON
MEDICAL CERTIFICATION OF
BLINDNESS IN SCOTLAND.
A MEMORANDUM of vital
#«k importance in relation to
/ % future administration con-
L_Jk nected with the welfare
/ m °^ bnnd persons has just
/ % been issued by the Depart-
-A. Sl ment of Health for Scot-
land and the Scottish Education Department.
The memorandum refers to the recent
establishment in the four large cities of
Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen
of regional clinics for the examination of
persons claiming to be blind, and lays down
that these clinics shall be utilised, as far as
practicable, by Local Authorities in Scotland
in determining whether a person is or is not
blind for the purpose of any benefit under
the Blind Persons Act, 1920.
In order to assist in securing uniformity
in the standard of certification of blindness
throughout the country, the Department
of Health convened meetings of the Ophthal-
mic Surgeons attached to the regional clinics.
General guiding principles in relation to
this standard were enunciated by the Surgeons
in their report to the Department, and these
are to form the basis of future certification.
Close contact between the medical staffs
of the clinics is recommended in order that
the desired uniformity may in practice
be secured.
A standard form of medical certificate
has been adopted for use in connection with
all future examinations of persons claiming
to be blind. This certificate, which it is
strongly recommended should, where practi-
cable, be signed by two Ophthalmic Surgeons
contains many important new features. It
provides for recording not only the Surgeons'
decision as to blindness, but also their
opinion as to whether the applicant, if a
child of school age, is, though not blind,
likely to become blind before the conclusion
of his school course or is likely to benefit
by attendance at a sight-saving class. As
a result it will be possible for Education
Authorities to decide on the appropriate
form of education to be given.
The value of the form from the prevention
PAGE
266
of blindness point of view is not, however,
limited to school children. In every case,
whether " blind " or " not blind," the
examining Surgeons' recommendations as
to eye treatment are recorded and Local
Authorities are desired to make arrangements
to secure that any such treatment is duly
obtained. At the same time the causes
of eye defects are recorded in accordance
with a standardised list of causes which has
been prepared from the point of view of
preventive medicine. It is hoped that the
data obtained will assist in determining
future measures for the prevention of blind-
ness.
The memorandum deals also with the
Surgeons' recommendations with regard to
the use and range of the Wassermann Test
in relation to " blind " examinations and
with the use of the regional clinics by
Education Authorities for determining which
school children should be educated as
"blind."
The value of the regional clinics to Local
Authorities is emphasised. Through their
medium the authorities will be able to
satisfy themselves that the numerous benefits
they now afford to blind persons will be
applied only to those who are strictly
entitled to them. Such benefits include
public assistance, elementary or technical
education, workshop employment, social
services of voluntary agencies, free tramway
passes, etc. Clinic certificates will at the
same time greatly facilitate administration
in relation to claims to blind old age pensions
and free wireless licences. Re-examination
of all the registered blind or at least of
doubtful cases is suggested.
The departments are convinced that the
general adoption of the clinic system will
result in uniformity in the standard of
certification throughout Scotland and will
provide data regarding the causes of blind-
ness with a range and accuracy hitherto
quite unattainable.
The whole scheme is a decided forward
move which will place Scotland in the fore-
front in the examination and certification
of blind persons.
BEACON
METHODS OF REMUNERATION,
VI.
By BEN PURSE.
SO far as we have proceeded with
the consideration of this subject,
no formula has been found which
may be said to meet the require-
ments of every wage-paying
organisation, and it is doubtful
whether any such discovery will
be made. We have indicated on more than
one occasion that each system submitted for
examination contains important elements
which while differing from the rest, cannot
easily be sacrificed because of local or other
circumstances which make a special appeal
either to the employers or to the workpeople
concerned. This does not mean, hoAvever,
that all hope of promoting greater uniformity
must or should be abandoned ; indeed, all
indications go to show that there is a genuine
desire to reach some common basis of
agreement which will once and for all settle
the standard from which economic earnings
can be justly calculated.
As we have shown elsewhere, the minimum
wage entirely fails to do this, because it
sets up artificial values which bear no true
relationship either to the costs of production
or real wages, and these considerations must
of necessity unduly influence all calculations
with which the managers are confronted.
It is impossible, we think, even with the
most carefully graded system to avoid the
adverse effects produced by the consequences
of diminished output, for unless the units of
production are operating at a reasonably
high level, even minimum profit-taking must
eventually disappear.
It may be contended that organisations
for the blind do not primarily exist for the
purpose of extracting profit from the sales of
manufactured commodities, but it is surely
feasible to suggest that it is the business of
all who are concerned with production so
to regulate the demands which they make
upon public and private benevolence as to
ensure not only the avoidance of waste, but
also the maintenance of a proper equilibrium
between trade earnings and subsidies appro-
priated for philanthropic purposes.
It is obvious to us that several important
employment agencies have not lost sight of
this consideration, for their systems and
methods of remuneration have been so care-
fully drawn as to exclude any possibility of
inordinate demands being made either upon
local authorities or the benevolent public.
It is feared, however, that generally speaking
insufficient attention is being paid to this
matter, for in a number of cases subsidies
are rising at an alarming rate, whilst real
wages tend to decline. Local governing
bodies, who are frequently appealed to for
money with which to increase these subven-
tions, should at least satisfy themselves that
both the employers and work-people alike
are making a sensible contribution towards
the maintenance of their undertakings by an
upward movement that is designed to reduce
both the unit and aggregate costs of produc-
tion. In our judgment, if such factors are
not present, then the contributing authorities
have a right to overhaul the system or
systems of administration, in order that
they may ascertain and eliminate definite
weaknesses and defects.
Such interference with the management of
voluntary institutions is undesirable from
every point of view, therefore those who are
responsible for the conduct of industrial
undertakings should see to it that no reason-
able and remedial cause of complaint can
be sustained, for if such defects are permitted,
they usually develop and multiply at an
alarming rate, and do more than any
general agitation to stimulate the desire for
municipalisation. It is not to be inferred,
however.that municipalisation is in any degree
whatsoever free from even more flagrant
abuses, but those whose political obsessions
lie in this direction cannot be expected to
take serious cognisance of such matters,
though even here a searching investigation
cannot much longer be delayed.
It is very refreshing to descend from the
general to the particular for the purpose of
examining in detail yet another system of
remuneration, which obtains at the Leicester
Institution for the Blind. This organisation
was established in the year 1858, and its records
show one long unbroken period of progress.
A Enormous difficulties had to be overcome,
PAGE
267
BEACON
but with that characteristic and indomitable
perseverance which refuses to succumb, the
organisation is now one of the best equipped
institutions in the British Isles. This society,
under Ministry of Health regulations, is made
responsible for the welfare of the blind in
the county and city of Leicester and in the
adjacent county of Rutland, and we are
pleased to be able to testify from an intimate
experience that the work is discharged with
a degree of efficiency that is second to none
in Britain. The agency is fortunate in
having at its disposal a manager of excep-
tional gifts, a craftsman and an administrator
whose combination of qualities within a
quarter of a century has made the Institution
one of outstanding importance in blind
welfare work.
We have already seen that owing to the
industrial depression many employment
agencies have suffered a serious set-back in
the past few years. The Leicester Institu-
tion was able to keep the whole of the blind
employees fully occupied until early this
year, but it is interesting to note that average
wages were and are being paid, to all blind
workers in spite of trade difficulties, and a
note of optimism is struck by the manage-
ment when they say: "Now that trade is
reviving, we have a number on full time,
and are hoping that in the near future we
shall resume normal working conditions in
all departments."
On March 31st last the number of blind
people employed at this Institution was 59,
comprising 40 men and 19 women, and we
have pleasure in giving the following descrip-
tion of the system of wage payments in
operation.
Earnings are supplemented by a scale so
regulated as to provide more assistance to
the low wage-earner than to the more able
worker, yet without removing the incentive
to industrious effort. The scheme is one
recommended by the Government Advisory
Committee ; approved by the Ministry of
Health ; and adopted by some other institu-
tions for the blind. The scale used in
Leicester, however, is much higher than the
official one, adding as much as 22/- to
earnings up to 12/- per week, and 3d. less
for every additional 1/- earned. Thus a
blind woman earning 8/- per week receives
30/-, while an employee earning 15/- per
week at Trade Union rates takes 36/3, or
if he is able to earn 25/-, he receives 43/9.
PAGE
268
To these subsidies is added 3/6 per week for
each child of school age. Assistance in
numerous ways is provided in addition to
upplement by scale : 1/- per week is added
to the worker's contribution of 6d. for
holidays ; Unemployment Insurance con-
tributions are paid for them, and dinners
are supplied at a nominal charge. This
service, according to a recent report, in one
year cost the Institution £387. It is interest-
ing to observe that further grants for special
needs are provided ; thus it is apparent that
a considerable measure of help is available
for all workers whenever it is required.
The following figures are of special interest
in view of the steadily rising grants that are
being made in respect of augmentation of
earnings, but doubtless in this case the large
amounts so expended are due to two main
causes, one of which is a temporary condi-
tion occasioned by the depressed trade cycle ;
the other attributable to the liberal basic
subsidy that is paid. We agree, however,
with the management when they affirm that
their system of wage payments is so arranged
as to secure a real incentive, making for the
development of earning power, and it is not
a criticism of the scheme from which any
serious consequences are likely to ensue
when it is postulated that the basic subsidy
stands at a high level. The temporary
condition of which we have spoken has been
magnanimously met by the authorities of the
institution in that they have protected the
interests of their workers during a long
period when but for this timely aid consider-
able hardship would have been experienced.
Those methods of remuneration that are
flexible and therefore capable of meeting
critical situations must not be condemned
necessarily because of their elasticity : they
are only fundamentally wrong when they
have been improperly conceived and badly
applied. It is this bed-rock weakness to
which our criticism is being mainly directed.
The system under review is neither impro-
perly conceived nor badly applied, and is
therefore immune from the basic weaknesses
to which we have alluded.
Earnings of Blind Workers and Augmenta-
tion : —
Year. Earning3. Augmentation.
£ s. d. i s. d.
1928-29 . . 1,464 5 5 2,709 5 2
1929-30 .. 1,643 19 8 3,178 18 1
1930-31 .. 1,831 o 4 3,290 5 4
BEACON
The fact is worth noting that in spite of
the anxiety manifested in certain quarters
to secure from the State and local authorities
the maximum amount of public assistance,
the Leicester organisation never appears to
have taken that view. They have set their
house in order by developing trading facilities
upon approved business lines, and the
workshops are among the very few that for
a succession of years have made a reasonable
profit from their commercial activities.
They have only asked for and received
minimum sums of money, which have been
entirely appropriated to improving the status
of the workers, and it is doubtless this
paramount consideration which has largely
influenced the volume of voluntary support
which they are receiving. This support is
an ever-increasing quantity and affords
positive evidence of the high esteem in
which the organisation is held.
For a very long time the managers of our
industrial institutions have been busy
endeavouring to evolve plans which it is
thought would result in the development of
trading facilities and the creation of extended
markets for sale of commodities. These
efforts are all very praiseworthy, but until
they establish a Council of Industry upon
which all interests will be adequately
represented, those of the workers no less
than those of the employers, little progress
will be made. The workers, indeed, could
make a substantial contribution towards
the solution of many pressing problems in
industry, and they should be given the
experience of learning at first hand that they
cannot be indefinitely pleading to be given
substantial incomes without making a pro-
portionate contribution by their labour to
the sources from which incomes are derived.
Such a constituent assembly would soon
gain the confidence of all who are desirous
of finding a permanent solution of the grave
problems with which we are now beset, and
the seriousness of which must be apparent
to all who are soberly thinking about these
matters. Such a Council could bring to its
aid research workers with knowledge and
experience, whose energies might very pro-
perly be devoted to a thorough investigation
of occupations and pursuits which have so
far remained closed to non-seeing workers.
The senseless disputes that arise from time
to time could and would be amicably ad-
justed, and the whole progress and policy of
our organisations reviewed in the light of
past experiences and future needs.
Surely the one thing that is imperatively
necessary is the removal of those factors
which tend more and more to make our
wage-paying institutions mere centres for
the administration of relief in various forms.
We have set far too low an estimate on the
possibility of developing the real earning
power of the blind worker, who, unconsciously
perhaps, is being taught to look for charity
rather than being stimulated to labour
honestly for his subsistence. It is not
impossible to call into existence such ma-
chinery as will be capable, under wise ad-
ministration, of achieving infinitely greater
results than are or can be secured under
present haphazard methods, where every
agency is a law unto itself, and the policy of
beggar-my-neighbour is being pursued regard-
less of its dire consequences.
The Leicester Institution is performing
magnificent work, as is many another agency
in this country, but when we learn to pool
our experiences and work wholeheartedly for
the achievement of common ends and
purposes, we shall have done something
worth while to realise the Utopia of our
dreams.
(To be continued.)
London Association for the Blind.
The new catalogue of the London Associa-
tion for the Blind breaks away from the
traditional " Buy from the Blind " plea,
and is purely a business-like and well-
arranged attempt to show the goods,
together with four pages of humorous
drawings. Humour in advertising is a
comparatively new departure, but it is
specially interesting to see that the fashion
has spread to the blind world. The
catalogue shows most attractive knitted
wear, and it is evident that the Associa-
tion keeps in close touch with changing
fashion in styles, texture and colouring.
Basketware of all kinds from the summer-
house to the work-basket is shown, and
a large number of useful gardening contri-
vances, together with all kinds of inexpen-
sive novelties suitable for Christmas
presents.
PAGE
269
BEACON
UNION OF COUNTIES ASSOCIATIONS
FOR THE BLIND.
South Eastern and London Counties
Association for the Blind.
THE Annual Report of the
Hertfordshire Society for the
Blind is the year's record
of a very live Society with
several active local branches.
Few Societies have so large a
muster of voluntary help
and use it to do so nearly all their work.
The Society is gathering itself together for
special efforts to keep up its excellent record
for collection of funds in these financially
straitened times. Mention is made of the
propaganda booklet " Out of the Night,"
which was noticed in an earlier number of
The New Beacon. Copies of the report
can be obtained from the Hon. Secretary
at Wormley Lodge, Broxbourne, Hertford-
shire.
The Isle of Wight Society for the Benefit
of the Blind publishes its Thirty-fifth Annual
Report, which shows that the Society's
vigour increases with its age. It is caring
for the material need, the occupations and
moral stimulus, the pleasures of its Island
blind people, and it is trying to extend its
work in all these directions. The Society
depends financially on its own efforts far
more than on the help of the Island County
Council. It has lost a valued Chairman,
but has found another. Copies of the
report can be obtained from the Secretary,
at 41, Quay Street, Newport, Isle of Wight.
The Surrey Voluntary Association for the
Blind publishes its Ninth Annual Report,
incorporating a short report by each of its
six local Sub-Committees. The report is a
record of the continued progress and even
wider variety in the work done. The
Surrey County Council has promised a
grant nearly treble that given hitherto,
the increase to be used for relief to the
unemployable blind and for the expenses
of pastime work. The Association appeals
for increased voluntary support to enable it
to maintain and extend the rest of its pro-
gramme of help to the blind of Surrey.
Another notable feature of the year was
the generous gift of a depot in Guildford
for the sale of articles made by the blind.
PAGE
270
including those regularly employed and
those doing pastime work. The report will
give full information concerning the work
of the Association and the methods it
employs to anyone interested in the Surrey
blind. Copies can be obtained from the
Hon. Secretary at 5, Grove Crescent,
Kingston-on-Thames.
The Bournemouth Blind Aid Society pub-
lishes its Twentieth Annual Report, covering
the period 1st October, 1930, to 30th Septem-
ber, 1931, with financial statement for
the year from 1st April, 1930, to 31st March,
1931. Bournemouth County Borough was
extended on 1st April, 1931, to include
adjacent parishes in Dorset and Hampshire.
The Society continues its sympathetic care
of the blind people in the County Borough
(of whom there are more in number by that
extension of its boundaries) and is trying
to increase social amenities for them, but
the Social Centre and Hall proposed to be
built on the site secured on the outskirts
of the Borough is for the present deferred.
The Society continues to administer its
own small independent Home Workers'
Scheme. Copies of the report can be ob-
tained from the Hon. Secretary at 126,
Old Christchurch Road, Bournemouth.
North Western Counties Association for the
Blind.
The following is a list of Prize Winners
at the Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales,
held at Bangor, August, 1931 : —
(1) Gladys Beamer, 13, Prince Edward
Avenue, Rhyl : —
Ladies' Costume . . 1st Prize.
Ladies' Cardigan . . 1st Prize.
(2) John Williams, 3, Pennington Terrace,
Llandulas : —
Sinnet Mat . . . . 1st Prize.
(3) Blodwyn Simon, 8, Clwyd Street,
Ruthin :—
Gents' Golf Stockings . . 1st Prize.
Gents' Socks . . . . 1st Prize.
(4) Nancy Roberts, Sunnyside, Tregarth,
near Bangor : —
Raffia Basket . . . . 1st Prize.
(5) Mrs. S. Parry, Rhenbarc, Llanllechid,
near Bangor : —
Highly commended for Rug making.
BEACON
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE.
Annual Report for the year ending March, 1931.
THE Annual Report of the
National Institute for the
Blind is one which reaches
a wide public, and a public
scattered over a very large
field. In its position, for
instance, as the largest publishing house
of embossed literature, its activities are of
interest, not only to workers for the blind in
England and Wales, but to those in distant
parts of the Empire and abroad. It is on
this account that the Report is a very full
one, for experience has proved that the time
and trouble taken in its production as well
as the cost involved (no small consideration
in these times of financial stress) are justified
by the interest aroused.
Before dealing with the various sections
of the Report, the attention of readers may
be called to the pages devoted to photo-
graphs ; each of eleven plates occupies one
or two pages, and illustrates by means of a
number of photographs a phase of the
Institute's work. We see, for example,
in the plates illustrating the Home Indus-
tries Department, pictures of blind men and
women at work in their homes, a photo-
graph of the travelling van which distributes
the finished articles they make, and groups
of the finished goods themselves ; or we
watch in the plate " Sunshine Hours in
Sunshine Homes," the blind baby's day
from the morning bath to the end of the day
and bed-time. Such pictures bring home
to the reader very graphically the extent
of the Institute's activities.
The Report falls into thirteen main
sections, and a brief summary may be given
here of the contents of each.
Unification of Collections.
Two new areas (Stockport and Preston)
have come into the unification scheme during
the year, and the scheme now includes
eighty-eight societies, and has allocated
grants to the value of £19,803. The British
Wireless for the Blind Fund has raised
£36,500, and 13,000 sets have been distributed
Embossed Books and Magazines.
Owing mainly to the installation of the
Rotary press, this year's output has been
greatly increased, 27,136 volumes having
been produced against 17,257. The Report
gives the titles of some of these, in confirma-
tion of its statement that the publications
are " not confined by the limits established
by the personal tastes of a few individuals."
These titles range from " Hyperion " to
"The Bab Ballads," and from the Dis-
courses of Epictetus to " The Good Com-
panions."
" The Braille Rainbow," a quarterly
magazine for the deaf-blind is one of two
new periodicals published during the year.
That the magazines are appreciated, quota-
tions from letters afford ample proof —
" Every time I read Progress it gives me my
sight," writes one, and " I should like to tell
you how extreme is my enjoyment of Punch —
I am happy though blind to see pictures,"
writes another. A revised letterpress cata-
logue of the books published by the Institute
has just been completed, and a Braille
edition of the catalogue is in course of
preparation.
Students' Library.
The number of volumes lent to students
during the year was 3,059, or nearly 200
more than in 1929-30, while 860 volumes
have been produced by the volunteer Braille
writers, to whose unselfish labours the blind
student owes so much. To transcribe such
works as Stubbs' " Charters," Jeans'
" Mysterious Universe " or Withers' " Stocks
and Shares," makes no small demand on
intelligence, patience, and skill. It is in-
teresting to read that one writer alone pro-
duced no less than 36 volumes.
The revision of the Braille instructional
books during the year has also been an
important part of the department's work.
Embossed Music and Blind Musicians.
During the year, the Diamond Jubilee
of Braille music in this country was cele-
brated, as it is just sixty years ago that the
British and Foreign Blind Association (now
the National Institute for the Blind) pub-
lished a pamphlet on Braille music notation.
It was a happy coincidence then that this
Jubilee year should be marked by the fact
PAGE
271
BEACON
that as from April, 1931, all Braille music
publications are to be embossed in accord-
ance with the decisions of the International
Congress of Braille music. The Bureau for
blind organists is carrying on useful work
and it is satisfactory to learn from the
Report that there are now over 150 blind
organists holding Church appointments in
England and Wales.
Apparatus and Research.
The Report gives an account of the recent
opening by Lord Blanesburgh of the newly-
established Museum of " Blindiana," in the
Armitage Hall of the Institute ; in this
Museum apparatus of all sorts is exhibited,
and those interested can trace the evolution
of technical devices for alleviating the
handicap of blindness.
Anew model of the Braille writing machine,
an improved Braille shorthand machine,
and new educational apparatus, are among
the special matters which have occupied
the Technical Research Committee during
the year, while it is satisfactory to learn
that the new Braille Duplicator is now
finished, and is being set up for use ; it
promises to be of great help in the repro-
duction of works in the Students' Library,
where one manuscript copy of a book is not
always sufficient to meet the demands
made.
Employment and Employment Research.
The investigation of the National Institute
of Industrial Psychology into conditions
prevailing in Workshops for the Blind is
now almost complete, and the Report
of the investigation will shortly be published.
The placement of blind persons alongside
of sighted labour in factories, has, quite
naturally, proved exceptionally difficult of
late owing to trade depression, but it is
satisfactory to learn that most of the place-
ments effected in the past year have been
retained. An interesting experiment has
been made in the placing of a blind man
in charge of a kiosk for the sale of tobacco
and sweets in the entrance hall of the
Aldwych House Estates Company ; the
kiosk was generously presented by the
company, and the blind man, who has now
been at work for some months, is doing
extremely well.
Personal Services.
The National Institute has made grants
PAGE
272
amounting to over £900 for training and
education, and has co-operated with local
organisations to the extent of £3,665, in
helping with relief certain cases which do
not come within the category of unemploy-
ables. Over a hundred blind children were
sent away from L.C.C. Schools for the Blind
for country or seaside holidays. The Sports
Club, set on foot last year, has been most
successful, and has included rowing, swim-
ming, dancing, indoor games, and country
rambles in its activities.
Homes for Blind Babies.
The new Home at East Grinstead is now
open, and is proving ideal for its purpose ;
it stands on a hill, overlooking open country,
and has been equipped with every modern
device for securing healthy conditions for
the children. An observation ward for the
careful supervision of the backward child
is one of its important features.
Chorleywood College.
The year has been one of steady pro-
gress, and there are thirty-three pupils
in the College. Four who qualified in
teaching last year have secured good posts,
an old girl at Girton has completed her
English Tripos and is now studying theology,
and the Macgregor prize awarded at the
Home Teachers' Examination for the best
scheme of teaching Braille and Moon, was
won by another old student.
Massage.
An experiment in connection with the
Massage School is an advanced course in
Electro-Therapeutics, now being taken by
four totally blind candidates, with a view
to determining whether the present syllabus
of medical electricity shall be augmented
to include additional treatments. During the
year, twelve students of the Massage School
passed their final examinations successfully,
and one student took the post-graduate
course in medical electricity.
Homes and Hostels.
The five Homes and Hostels have con-
tinued their work, and delightful letters
are quoted from some of the residents and
visitors—" We could not possibly have felt
more at home anywhere," " Father enjoyed
himself immensely," " It has been a lovely
time to think about," are typical.
BEACON
Home Industries.
There are now 267 Home Workers em-
ployed in the area for which the National
Institute is responsible, and the total earn-
ings amounted during the year to £11,703,
apart from augmentation. It is encouraging
to learn that in these times of bad trade the
sales of finished goods amounted to a value
in cash of £11,512.
Imperial and International Co-operation.
The year has been specially marked in
the international field by the World Con-
ference held in New York, and by the subse-
quent establishment of the new World
Council in Paris. The National Institute
has taken an active part in the Conference
and the Council, and the Executive Council
has given the Secretary General permission
to serve on the Council's Executive and
Managing Committee. The care of the
blind in India, the Irish Free State, Gibraltar,
and Cyprus, have all specially interested the
National Institute during the year.
Obituary.
The Report closes with a brief note
of those friends of the Institute, whose
death it mourns. The names include those
of H.R.H. Princess Royal, a patron of the
Greater London Fund, Mr. H. J. Wilson,
for many years Secretary of Gardner's Trust,
and a pioneer in work for the blind, and Mr.
Edward Watson, head of the National
Institute's Music Department.
ACHIEVEMENTS
OF THE BLIND
Gallantry.
A gallant attempt to rescue a woman from
a burning house was made last month in
Aberdeen by Mr. Alexander A. Hardie, a
blind music teacher, of Bucksburn. As soon
as he discovered the fire Mr. Hardie groped
his way upstairs to the rooms of Miss
Isabella Brown, aged 50, who lived alone on
the upper floor. He was driven back by the
smoke before he was able to rouse her. He
then warned his family. Despite his dis-
ability, he groped his way to a fire alarm and
summoned the brigade. Neighbours rescued
Miss Brown, who was found unconscious in
her rooms. She died soon after admission to
hospital.
A Gifted Musician.
Mr. Greville Cooke, Mus.Bac, F.R.A.M.,
in his " Musical Notes " in the Kettering
Leader and Guardian, writes as follows :
"One of the most talented pupils I have ever
taught was N. McLeod Steel, an officer
totally blinded in the war, who after doing
excellently at the Royal Academy of Music,
married a talented musician and settled
down in the Babbacombe end of Torquay,
where he is now residing. If by any chance
these words should be brought to his notice
he will hardly thank me for them — for he is
a shy man and hates publicity. But Torquay
folk would do well to realise what an excellent
musician (and very gifted composer) is
resident in their district, and one who is very
fully trained, moreover, in the art of teaching
singing, besides composition and the theory
of music and harmony, etc. I send him my
kindest greetings. ' Jock ' Steel is a charm-
ing Scotsman and a nicer chap you could not
wish to meet."
A Famous Broadcaster.
Mr. Ronald Gourley, in an interview with
the Radio Correspondent of the Evening
Standard, said : " When I appear on the
stage, I can see my audience as plainly
as you can." " Walking down the street
I can see the traffic and the people.
And what is more interesting, when I broad-
cast I can see the vast crowds of people in
their homes listening to their sets. What you
call blindness really gives us second sight."
Blind Men in the Political World.
In the General Election, Captain Ian
Fraser, C.B.E., won St. Pancras North for
the Conservatives from Labour by 10,233
votes. Captain Fraser, well known as the
blind Chairman of St. Dunstan's, represented
the division from 1924 to 1929. He was a
member of the London County Council from
1922 to 1924, sat on the Government Com-
mittee of Inquiry on Broadcasting, 1925-26,
and is Chairman of the B.B.C. Advisory
Committee.
Two other blind candidates in the election
were Dr. Ernest Whitfield who unsuccess-
fully contested St. Marylebone, and Mr. F.
Martin, who failed to win Aberdeen and
Kincardineshire (Eastern). Dr. Whitfield
and Mr. Martin were both Labour candi-
dates
PAGB
273
BEACON
REVLEWS
REPORTS
Aberdeen Town and County Association for
Teaching the Blind in their Homes.
The Fifty-first Annual Report for the
year 1930/31 records the loss by death of
two valued Committee members, in the
persons of Lady Jaffrey and Miss M' Robbie.
There are now 742 blind persons on the
register, which covers a very wide area,
and includes Orkney and Shetland. It is
interesting to read that the four wireless
sets supplied to blind listeners in Orkney
have been greatly appreciated.
East London Home and School for Blind
Children.
The photographs that illustrate the Annual
Report for 1930/31 are most attractive,
and give a delightful impression of the
children and their surroundings ; the babies
in their open classroom, and the older
girls at work on their herbaceous border or
drilling on the lawn, are specially attractive.
There are now 57 pupils in the school, and
among the school successes recorded are
seven certificates in the various divisions
of the Associated Board's Music Examina-
tions, and two good positions gained in the
National Library Reading Competition.
Belfast Association for the Employment of
the Industrious Blind .
The Fifty-ninth Annual Report for 1930
states that although continuous employment
has not been possible for the workers in
the care of the Association on account
of bad trade during the past twelve months,
128 blind people have been employed either
in the workshops or as home-workers.
Sales of goods amounted to £28,433, and
although this is a smaller figure than the
turnover of the previous year by £1,872,
it must be regarded as a very satisfactory
one in the face of present difficulties. There
are at present over fifty young blind persons
on the waiting list of the Association, and
the report pleads for additional support in
order that if possible training shall not be
denied them.
PAGE
274
North London Homes for Aged Christian
Blind Men and Women.
The Report for 1930/31 records with deep
regret the death of Mr. Alexander Dow,
Chairman of the Homes for eight years,
and a member of the Committee for 23 years ;
he always took a very deep interest in the
welfare of the residents, and his loss is
keenly felt. An account is given of the
official opening of the Crowstone Home,
Westcliff, and there are several attractive
photographs of the Home, where accommo-
dation is provided for 56 blind women,
including a number of holiday guests.
National Deaf-Blind Helpers League.
The Annual Report for the year ended
June 30th, 1 93 1, states that the work is
steadily increasing and that the membership
of the League has been added to by one-
half since the last Annual Report was pub-
lished. The membership continues to be
organised on the plan of regional groups,
each group being in the care of a " Steward."
One of the most striking features of the
work is the way in which so many deaf-blind
members themselves have responded to the
call for service, and are doing a great deal
to help one another, and especially to lighten
the burden of the lonely.
Several social gatherings have been held
during the year and have been greatly
appreciated. Holidays have been arranged
for several members, Christmas gifts sent
to the deaf-blind in hospitals and infirmaries,
and to lonely people who would otherwise
have had little Christmas cheer.
There has been much exchange of corre-
spondence between members of the League,
and many pen friends have been made. An
increasing number of Braille and Moon
periodicals are being circulated, and the
formerly hand- written " Rainbow " is now
a regular embossed Braille quarterly.
Leeds Incorporated Institution for the Blind
and the Deaf and Dumb.
In spite of the difficulties of the present
position of trade, the Leeds Institution is
able to report that the department opened
for piano-tuning and repairing is proving
successful and orders are increasing. Another
new venture about to be started as a depart-
ment for the manufacture and remaking
of mattresses. The workshops were recently
thrown open to the public, and great interest
was shown by a number of visitors.
BEACON
Schools for the Blind, Palamcottah.
The Annual Report for 1930/31 is an
interesting one, and the extract given in it
from an Inspector's record of her visit
to the school is a very encouraging tribute
to the work of the staff : — " The school is
doing a wonderful bit of work with these
children," she writes, " and the zeal and
devotedness of the staff is beyond praise.
The teachers are as happy and cheerful
as the children . . . who live in an atmos-
phere of joy and comradeship."
It must be a real encouragement to the
Principal of the School, Mr. Speight, who is
now on furlough in this country, to read so
cheerful an account of the way in which the
work is being carried on in his absence.
The new Institution recently opened at
Madras, under the headmastership of Mr.
Bell (late of Craigmillar, Edinburgh), has
relieved Palamcottah of nearly 30 of its
older boys and girls, who were already
trained workers, and Palamcottah is thus
free to take on other learners, and to devote
more time to the training of those left
behind.
PERSONALIA
Sir Michael O'Dwyer has been nomin
ated to represent the National Institute for
the Blind on the International Association
for the Prevention of Blindness.
Captain Sir Beachcroft Towse, V.C.,
has been elected Chairman, Dr. P. M.
Evans, Vice-Chairman, and Mr. A. J. W.
Kitchin and Dr. E. Whitfield, Joint
Hon. Treasurers of the National Institute
for the Blind, for the year 1931-32.
Mr. G. F. Mo watt, formerly Joint Hon.
Treasurer of the National Institute for the
Blind, was accorded a hearty vote of thanks
at the last meeting of the Institute's Council
for his long and devoted service.
Alderman Major J. G. Paris and Mr.
William Eckford have been elected mem-
bers of the Executive Council of the National
Institute for the Blind in Groups D and E
respectively (see list on page 186, August
issue of The New Beacon) . Mr. Henry J.
Wagg has now been re-elected as a member
of the Council in Group E instead of
Group D.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND
NEW PUBLICATIONS
MUSIC.
ORGAN
11,091
11,092
PIANO
11,093
1,094
1.095
1,096
1,097
1,098
DANCE
11,104
11,106
11,107
SONGS-
11,108
11,109
11,110
11,111
s. d.
2 o
2 o
2 4
Alcock, W. G. Toccata
Arne, T. A. Allegro Moderato (1st
Movement), from " Concerto No. 6
in B flat " (arr. by H. F. EUingford)
Associated Board Examinations, 1932.
Studies and Pieces — Higher Division,
List C
Intermediate Grade, List A . .
Arne, T. A. Sonata No. 5 in B flat
and Sonata No. 6 in G minor
Drigo, R. Serenade Napolitaine
Elgar. Sonatina in G . .
Jervis-Read, H. V. Sonnets : No. 5
in G flat and No. 6 in F minor
No. 7 in C
Rowley, Alec. The Joyous Pathway,
No. 2 of " Three Impressions "
Three Invocations
Sweeting, E. T. Will-o'-the-Wisp . .
Various Composers. Our Boys' Album,
Book 1
Addinsell, R. Going Home (from
" The Good Companions "), Song
Fox -Trot 20
Slipping Round the Corner (from
" The Good Companions "), Song
Fox-Trot 20
Evans, T. Life's Desire, Song-Waltz. . 2 o
Nichols, A. You Can't Stop Me
From Lovin' You, Song Fox-Trot. . 2 o
Bax, Arnold. The White Peace, A
flat ; E— G1 flat 20
Gibbs, Armstrong. The Market, E
minor ; A1 — E1 . . . . ..20
Phillips, Montague. When the Chil-
dren Sleep, F ; D — F1 . . ..20
Rowley, Alec. If Washes Were Horses,
B minor ; B1— E1 20
Shaw, Martin. Down by the Sallev
Gardens, D ; Bx— D1 . . ..20
Somervell. Maud has a Garden, B flat
minor ; Bj — D1 natural . . ..20
Stephenson, T. W. The Wavelets'
Song, D ; Bj— E1 20
Strauss, Richard. Night, C : Bx — F1 2 o
Toye, Francis. The W'eathercock on
the Moor, G; C— G1 20
BRAILLE BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per vol.
s. d.
Braille System for Reading and Writing.
Grade 2 (including Grade 1). Re-
vised by the National Uniform Type
Committee 193 1. Intermediate size,
Interlined, Pamphlet (8). E.33 . . 30
10,711-10,714. All Sorts of Stories Book, The,
by Mrs. Lang. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Paper Covers. 4 vols.
F.234 per vol. 5 9
PAGE
275
BEACON
per Vol.
s. d.
10,943-10,946 Diathermy, by Elkin P. Cum-
berbatch. Grade 2, Large size,
Interpointed, Cloth Boards. 4 vols.
G.286 .. .. .. per vol. 8 9
10,628-10,632 Sir Nigel, By A. Conan Doyle.
Grade 2, Large size, Interpointed,
Paper Covers. 5 vols. F.283 per vol. 5 9
10,693-10,697 Where Three Empires Meet,
by E. F. Knight. Grade 2. Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers,
5 vols. F.329 . . per vol. 6 6
NATIONAL INSTITUTE STUDENTS'
ADDITIONS.
CLASSICS.
LIBRARY.
Plato, Phaedrus
ENGLISH LITERATURE.
Riding, L. and Graves, R. Survey of Modernist
Poetry
MISCELLANEOUS.
Davis, H. W. C. Medieval England
Duguid, J. Green Hell
MODERN LANGUAGES.
Moliere ; Critique de l'Ecole des Femmes
PHILOSOPHY.
Inge, W. R. Philosophy of Plotmus
POETRY AND DRAMA.
Patmore, Coventry. Selected Poems . .
Webster and Tourneur. Plays
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE.
Purse, B. The Blind in Industry
THEOLOGY AND RELIGIONS.
Matthews, W. R. Studies in Christian Philo
sophy
Various Authors.
Dogma
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND.
ADDITIONS— OCTOBER, 1931.
FICTION.
Benson, E. F. Mezzanine
Benson, Stella. Tobit Transplanted . .
Blumenfeld, Josephine. Shrimps for Tea
Buckrose, J. E. Peeping Tower. .
Campbell, Reginald. Poo Lorn of the Elephants 4
Crompton, Richmal William — The Good - . 3
Deeping, Warwick. Fox Farm . . . . . . 5
*Deland, Margaret. Iron Woman . . . . 6
De la Roche, Mazo. Possession
Ferber, Edna. Cimarron
Francis, M. E. Cousin Christopher . . . . 3
Glaspell, Susan. The Fugitive's Return . . 4
Hart, Frances H. The Bellamy Trial . . . . 5
Holtby, Winifred. Poor Caroline . . ■ . 5
Jameson, Storm. A Richer Dust
Jesse, F. Tennyson. Secret Bread
Kennedy, Margaret. The Fool of the Family 5
Mackenzie, Compton. The Three Couriers . . 4
♦Extremes Meet . . . . . . . . 5
♦McCarthy, J. H. Gorgeous Borgia .. .. 3
Orczy, Baroness. The First Sir Percy . . . . 5
Penny, F. E. The Swami's Curse . . . . 5
Preedy, George. Bagatelle and Some Other
Diversions
Riley, W. Peter Pettinger 6
Sedgwick, Anne Douglas. Phillippa . . . . 6
Saunders, Margaret Baillie. John o' Chimes .
♦Stoker, Bram. Dracula
Strong, L. A. G. Jealous Ghost. .
Thompson, Edward. Night Falls on Siva's
Hill 3
Wallace, Edgar. Lieutenant Bones . . . . 4
♦Wodehouse, P. G. Money for Nothing . . . . 3
♦Stereotyped books (in continuation).
Vols.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Chamberlin, T. Chrowden. Origin of the Earth
(E. W. Austin Memorial) . . . . . . 4
Dudley, Rev. Owen F. Masterful Monk . . 5
Gook, A. Can a Young Man Trust his Bible ? 1
Headlam, A. G. Building of the Church of
Christ, and Other University Sermons . . 4
Hobson, J. A. The Modern State
Iliad of Homer — Done into English prose
by Andrew Lang . . . . . . . . 6
Livingston, Marjorie. The New Nuctemeron . . 2
Mauro, Philip. Life in the Word . . . . 1
Munthe, Axel. Memories and Vagaries . . . . 3
Quennell, Marjorie and C. H. B. Everyday
Things in Homeric Greece . . . . . . 2
Radhakrishnan, S. Religion We Need. . . . 1
Rudyard, Helpmann, D. Patrol Emblems for
Girl Guides . . . . . . . . ... 2
♦Sellar, W. G. and R. J. Yeatman. 1066 And
All That 2
Streeter, B. M. and A. J. Appasany. The
Sadhu . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
JUVENILE.
Havell, H. L. (Retold by). Stories from Don
Quixote . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Leveson-Gower, Margaret. Fighting Six . . 2
Strang, H. Lost in London . . . . . . 1
Olwyn's Secret . . . . . . . . 1
GRADE 1.
Golden Budget of Nursery Rhymes . . . . 1
MOON.
Sabatini, R. Snare . . ; . . . . 6
Miller, J. R. Things to Live For . . . . 4
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND,
35, Great Smith Street, Westminster, S.W. 1.
In order to prevent disappointment and ensure the
delivery of extra consignments of books from the
National Library at Christmas time, readers are asked
to notify the Secretary, Miss 0. I. Prince, 35, Great
Smith Street, Westminster, S.W. 1, that extra books
will be needed, as early as possible in the month of
December. Many were disappointed in I93°> as>
although by strenuous efforts the double supplies
asked for were all despatched from Westminster
before December 20th, consignments were held up
at the Post Office and not delivered at their various
destinations until after the holidays, owing to the
enormous extra pressure of Christmas work at the
Post Office.
Readers in the Northern Branch area should notify
the Branch Secretary, Miss A. M. Hewer, 5, St. John
Street, Manchester.
O. I. PRINCE,
Secretary and Librarian.
TJMHMMT
COUNTYi COUNCIL OF THE WEST RIDING OF
YORKSHIRE.
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT.
WANTED.— A SIGHTED WOMAN TEACHER AND
VISITOR for the Blind in the Selby, Goole and Thorne
areas of the County Council. Salary ^156 per annum,
less a temporary reduction of i\ per cent.
Applicants must not be over 40 years of age, and
must have passed the Home Teachers' Examination
of the College and Association of Teachers of the Blind.
Forms of application, together with particulars of
the duties, may be obtained on forwarding a stamped
addressed envelope to the Education Officer, County
Hall, Wakefield, to whom all applications must be
sent not later than the 30th November, 1931.
Printed by Smiths' Printing Co. (London and St. Albans), Ltd., 22-24, Fetter Lane, E.C.'
BEACON
A MAGAZINE
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS
OF THE BLIND
Vol. XV.-No. 180. DECEMBER 15th, 1931. Price 3d.
3S. PER ANNUM, POST FREI.
Enttred as Second Class Matter, March 15, 1929, at the Post Office at Boston, Mass., under the Ail of March 3, 1879 {Sec. 397, P.L. and R.)
DOMESTIC SCIENCE TRAINING FOR THE
BLIND
By EDWARD EVANS, Headmaster and Superintendent,
East Anglian Schools for Blind and Deaf Children.
A FEW years ago the College of Teachers of the Blind were asked to express an
/% opinion on the question of Domestic Science teaching in schools for the blind ,
/ % and it would be superfluous to add that they made strong recommendations
/ M that the subject should receive every support and encouragement in the schools,
/ M provided it was taken under expert direction and in properly equipped rooms.
J % Since that time, Domestic Science, in most of its branches, has found a place
-A. JL. in the curriculum of many schools and also, it is very gratifying to find, in
extensions under continuation schemes of various kinds.
It is not the purpose of this short article to examine the subject other than in its relation
to one particular school and I propose only to give an acccount of what is done in this form of
training at the East Anglian Schools at Gorleston-on-Sea.
The subject of Domestic Science may be viewed from three aspects ; the purely educational,
the vocational and the semi-vocational or utilitarian ; by this last, I mean the idea of training,
so that the blind person shall be genuinely useful in her own home, either as "helping mother "
or as a housekeeper not dependent on outside help.
It is hardly necessary to emphasise the educational advantages of Domestic Science as
a handwork occupation ; they proclaim themselves as among the most interesting and effective
forms of manipulative training.
It is outstandingly valuable in the development of such qualities as order, cleanliness,
thoroughness, accuracy and responsibility. It constantly illustrates the principles of cause
and effect and has the advantage that the results obtained by effort are easily visualised and
capable of immediate appraisement. Indeed, we can run through almost the whole gamut
of primary educational qualities fostered and developed through the medium.
BEACON
In considering the vocational value of
Domestic Training it would be idle to make
too great a claim, but it can be confidently
asserted, and our after-care records sub-
stantiate this, that there is a decided place
for the well-trained girl with a fair amount
of residual vision. We have at least a
dozen of our old pupils who are happily
and usefully employed in domestic service.
This avenue of vocational training and
consequent placement should be further
explored and in the case of the partially
blind should yield encouraging results.
A considerable number of our blind girls
leaving school, either fail to proceed for
further training, or if they do, eventually
fail to find remunerative employment in
factories or as home workers. They even-
tually find themselves as static units of
their families, others marry, and these,
together with those who become blind in
adult life, form a very considerable proportion
of our adult female blind population. There
can be no doubt of the value of a course in
Domestic Science to such as these, whether
they be wholly or partially unemployed.
The mental deterioration of a blind person
who sits at home doing nothing is apparent
even to those who know little of the blind,
and anything that will overcome the dead
weight of inertia which soon settles upon a
person without interests must be accounted
of considerable value.
Domestic work forms an attractive and
useful home occupation for such women
and in many cases it is of the highest
importance to the health and comfort of the
blind person that this work should be under-
taken herself. The value of simple lessons
in cooking, housewifery and laundry work
to lonely blind women renders them capable
in large measure of running their own houses,
makes them independent of outside help
and employs their hands and minds in useful
constructive work.
The foregoing are among the aims we
have in view in our approach to the subject
of Domestic Science training at the East
Anglian School, and I propose now to give
a short description of the curriculum and
the buildings.
The subject is under the control of a fully
qualified Domestic Science Teacher, who
attends every afternoon and on Saturday
mornings. The classes run during the whole
of these school periods and every girl when
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278
she is enrolled for domestic training attends
for two whole sessions a week.
The classes were formerly housed in one
large room fitted up in the manner of a
large kitchen very similar to those in use
for the training of elementary school girls
at a " Centre."
About two years ago, however, the oppor-
tunity arose of purchasing a four-roomed
bungalow with a front and back garden
lying adjacent to our school grounds, and
this was converted into a Domestic Science
" Centre." The accommodation consists,
as at present arranged, of a large kitchen
fitted with a small coal range ; a scullery
with sink, draining board, copper and two
gas cookers ; a sitting room ; a bedroom.
There are also lavatory accommodation,
cupboards, larder, coal-house and the other
appurtenances of a small house. Along
the whole range of the back of the premises
is a glazed verandah with a concrete floor.
The kitchen is fitted as a lecture room,
with a wide observation hatch into the
scullery. The floor of the kitchen is covered
with a good quality linoleum, while the walls
have a dado of the same material which
gives the appearance of tiles.
The girls themselves cleaned, papered and
painted the whole of the interior of the
building and the furniture for the sitting
room and bedroom was bought at sales.
The sitting room is delightfully set out
with furniture of excellent quality at a cost
of under £10. A few of the girls with their
mistress bought the bedroom furniture at
an auction and, except for a rug, the whole
room did not cost more than a few pounds.
In the housewifery lessons the girls
have to " turn out " these rooms, do all
the cleaning, polishing and scrubbing, in
addition to laying fires and the other
incidental work connected with that part
of the training, including window cleaning.
In laundry work, plain washing and ironing
is done ; the greatest difficulty is experienced
in " gathered " work.
In cookery the syllabus comprises : stews,
plain boiling, baking and frying; plain
buns ; preparation and cooking of vege-
tables ; milk and suet puddings ; pastry
and pies; bread; soup.
The totally blind are able, first of all,
to assist in these operations and later, to
perform many of them themselves.
BEACON
Our most successful totally blind pupil
was able, quite unaided, to cook a plain
dinner and make and bake a very good loaf
of bread.
An important part of the training consists
of lessons in buying commodities, estimating
costs, laying out weekly budgets and in
keeping notes in Braille of recipes and
household hints.
To supplement the training given in the
classes, the girls are placed in the school
kitchen for a whole week at a time and there
work under the direction of our lady cook.
They do no scullery work, but are wholly
engaged in cooking operations.
Apart from the Domestic Science training,
and as exercises in general utility, all
children over a certain age make their own
beds, assist in the setting-out of meals,
dusting and generally tidying up, but no
laborious work such as scrubbing is done
and the other work is allocated very strictly
according to rota.
How far is it desirable or practicable
to extend the training to boys ? Is there any
vocational prospect in this subject for boys
with a little sight ? I should be extremely
interested to have the views of readers of
this journal on that subject.
SUCCESS OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE CLASSES.
Miss M. C. Tenney, Secretary, Eastern
Counties Association for the Blind, read a
paper on Domestic Science Classes at the
Union of Counties Associations' meeting
on the 19th November.
She quoted recommendations made in
the Reports of the Advisory Committee
of the Ministry of Health, and then referred
to the successful cookery classes started
at Manchester. We quote her own words : — ■
'' We understand that the teacher of these
Classes was Miss Fanny Blackstock, working
under Miss L. A. Crass, the Superintendent
of Domestic Subjects, Manchester Education
Committee. There were two elementary
classes of about ten lessons each, followed
by a more advanced class formed from those
two. In every case there were more applica-
tions than could be accepted. They made
pastry, stews, soups, cakes, bread, etc., and
a partially blind girl managed the gas-oven,
though some totally blind girls used it too.
The teacher thought that electric stoves
would be better and that an attempt should
be made by the blind person to get such a
stove rather than to use fire or gas.
" The Hon. Secretary of the Western
Counties' Association has repeatedly brought
up the question of Domestic Training for
the Blind ; and in a letter dated the 21st
September, 1931, states : —
" This has, with the help of and as advised
by, the Board of Education Inspectors, been
inaugurated at most of the Schools I think now,
but it is not so easy to arrange for at the Adult
Training Centres. They have done this, I
believe, with great success at Henshaw's,
even before Mr. Thurman went there — they
took a disused Chapel for the purpose, and fixed
it up. This Centre, was, I think, for adults.
" My experience is mainly at Schools where
pupils remain until about 20. They have just
started Courses with great success at Exeter.
It is essential that the Centre is quite apart
from the kitchens of the Institution ; and the
Instructress must be appointed for that subject
only and give full time to it.
" With reference to the pupils — -at first only
girls are taking the Course and they need a lot
of individual attention ; it is best to have only
three to look after at a time, to begin with.
They learn to be housemaids, parlour-maids and
cooks, to do laundry work, and everything
needed in a house. At Exeter they cook and
serve meals for the Instructress and themselves.
Above the kitchens, etc., is an Isolation Depart-
ment, two Wards, nurses' room and offices, to
isolate mumps, etc., if necessary. As a rule
these rooms are unoccupied, but they need to
be kept in excellent order, and the Instructress
makes one girl parlour-maid for a week, one
between-maid, and one cook ; they change each
week. All like cooking best! Sometimes they
all have a washing day. Laundry work has
an important place in the programme and is
done by various methods. The housemaid
and parlour-maid have, each day, to sweep,
polish floors, tidy beds, dust, clean windows,
clean bath properly, lavatory, sinks and every-
thing upstairs, and to do the Instructress's
room downstairs. This upper floor is reached
by an outside staircase only, so that if and when
they have to use it, the kitchens do not connect
at all.
" One girl with a little sight, age 19, is a
wonderful maid, an excellent cook and capable
of taking a post from the School at Christmas.
Twice a week they are allowed to invite, in
rotation, four girl visitors to dinner. There
PAGE
279
BEACON
is great excitement! Seven to cook for, plus
the Instructress, who has hers in style. She
teaches them to tidy up after dinner, lay tea,
and go and smarten themselves up. They
practise all sorts of things, such as announcing
a visitor. They learn to cook by an electric
stove, a gas cooker, and a coal fire.
" I never saw blind or partly-blind girls so
keen over anything as this Domestic Training.
One girl, age 16, with a little sight — no idea of
machinery, hopeless with knitting machine —
had cooking instruction from the end of April
until July 15th. She went home and did all
the cooking at home for six adults during the
whole holidays ; she makes excellent pastry
and bakes bread. They actually break less
than sighted girls, they are so careful.
" We hope to take boys for the Courses later
on. There is a good field of work and employ-
ment as bakers, confectioners, house-boys,
porters, etc., especially for those with a little
sight.
" It is noticeable that cookery and house-
work have been stressed and little mention
has been made about laundry work — a most
important part of Domestic Training. It is
a well-known fact, that totally blind women
are excellent washerwomen — knowing where
the clothes need extra attention, and always
able to ask their sighted friends when the
clothes are clean. Dollying is splendid
exercise for anyone, as it strengthens the
muscles of the back and exercises the liver,
and very often blind people suffer from many
ills arising from lack of proper exercise.
Let anyone who suffers from a touch of
liver have a go at the dolly tub and it will
quickly cure him, as well as her !
" The Eastern Counties' Association
strongly supports the suggestions made by
the Western Counties' Association and urges
that Domestic Science Classes be inaugurated
wherever possible, in the towns and all the
Training Centres for the Blind."
HOME NEWS
The Bishop of London and a Blind Man's Bible.
The Bishop of London, distributing prizes at the East London Home and School
for Blind Children, Upper Clapton, said that neither the blind children nor the 360
crippled little ones in the institution with which he was associated sought pity.
One of his blind friends said, " You pity us all a great deal too much. It is only
a little inconvenience."
" A braver thing than that I never heard," the Bishop added.
" Only yesterday," he went on, " one of my old parishioners fumbled at my door
and came in and gazed, without seeing, trying to make sure I was the Bishop. Then
he said, ' I have gone blind now, Bishop, and cannot read my Bible, and I'm almost
stone deaf. I have brought you this Bible ' — and it was a large one — ' that you may
put it to use in any church you may like to present it to.' That Bible might have been
sold for £5, but he preferred to present it to the Church."
Blind Men Move from Manchester to Rhyl.
Last month Mr. A. Barnes, chairman of the Rhyl Urban District Council, welcomed
the first eighteen blind men from the Gresham Home for Blind Men, Henshaw's Institu-
tion, Manchester, to the new home at Glensanda, Russell Road, Rhyl.
Councillor Mathewson Watson, chairman of the Board of Management, said that the
official opening of the home would be held in July or August.
Mr. W. H. Thurman, director of Henshaw's Institution, said that the new home
at Rhyl would not only be a home for the blind, but would be the " show home " of the
country.
The home, which was purchased for £6,500 and mainly furnished by articles made
by the men themselves, was stated to be free of debt.
Mr. Barnes, when told that the men made many useful articles in their workshops,
at once offered to the management a kiosk in Rhyl, free of charge, for the sale of their
goods.
PAGE
280
BEACON
The Duchess of Beaufort Opens Sale of Work for Bristol Blind.
The Duchess of Beaufort opened the exhibition and sale at the Bristol Royal Blind
Asylum Workshops, Park Street. Aid. C. T. Budgett presided over a large gathering
and reminded them that the products of the blind workers were " all British." Moreover,
their prices were fair and competitive. They neither undersold nor overcharged.
Mr. Gerrard Fox, chairman of the workshops committee, in welcoming the Duchess,
said : " The days of the dog and the string for blind people are gone for ever. The
blind are being trained to consider themselves as responsible and useful members of
society. In these days we are going a step further, and trying, by the placement move-
ment, to put blind people actually side by side with sighted people in factories. In
Bristol we are doing this through the kind co-operation of Messrs. Wills and Messrs. Frys."
Her Grace, in opening the sale, made a brief but felicitous speech. She said she
hoped that the " economy wave " would not cause people to stint their Christmas
presents. And the latter could be bought from no better place than from the workshops
of the blind.
Blind People's Visit to Sheffield Fire Station.
About fifty blind people recently visited the Sheffield Corporation Fire Station,
where Superintendent Breaks and his men demonstrated to them how all the appliances
used in fire fighting were worked.
The new Workshops for the Blind are fitted with automatic detectors, which, on
an outbreak of fire occurring, automatically give the alarm at the fire station, and
this alarm was sounded just as it would be set going by a real fire.
The visitors were then shown how everything necessary for sending out the engines
is worked from one central switch, even to the starting up of the motors. They were
helped on to the engines and examined the hose and the ladders. They were shown
exactly how these were worked. They also had an opportunity of examining all the
appliances used by the firemen, such as axes, helmets, and the special clothing they wear.
A demonstration of fire rescue by jumping into the jumping sheet was given by some
of the firemen's children living at the station, and about half a dozen of the blind visitors
themselves were brought down from a second-floor landing by means of the sling and
pulley worked from the aerial ladder.
The visit was highly successful and the blind people feel that they now realise
something of the work of a fire brigade.
Additions to the School for the Blind, Hardman Street, Liverpool.
An extension to the above School is being erected on the site of the recently
demolished Church for the Blind. The new building will provide a sale-shop, workrooms
for girl trainees, and also accommodation for the employment of the girls on completion
of their training. Baths, sewing-rooms, extension to dining hall and dormitory, and a
model kitchen and other rooms where the girls may be instructed in domestic science.
The work of the School has been symbolised in the external ornament of the build-
ing in an exceptionally interesting way. At the entrance to the sale-shop will be a
pair of bronze doors. Each door consists of a plain panel enriched with three bronze
reliefs indicating the activities of the School. Above each window of the shop is a
carved stone relief representing some aspect of the work, such as basket-making, mat-
making, knitting, etc. Basket-work has also provided the inspiration for the ornament
on the parapet, and flower motives are used for the decoration of the frieze. The cost
is £25,000.
Considerable interest is being evinced in the erection of this building on such a
conspicuous site, and apart from its usefulness it will make a notable addition to the
architecture of the city of Liverpool.
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BEACON
Subscription to "The Tribune" Reduced.
It has been decided to reduce the subscription rates of The Tribune, the Braille
organ of the National Union of the Professional and Industrial Blind. In future the
rates will be as follows : Inland and abroad, 5s. 6d. per annum, post free ; single copy 6d.,
post free.
Mr. Lloyd George's Appreciation of Blind-made Socks.
Mr. Lloyd George, before leaving England for Ceylon, wrote a letter of warm appie-
ciation to Miss Nellie Jones, a blind girl in his constituency, at Deganwy, who had
knitted for him two pairs of socks from pure Welsh wool. She wrote to Mr. Lloyd
George in Braille, saying that as a lifelong admirer she had knitted the socks to keep
his feet warm while travelling.
General Assembly of International Association for the Prevention of Blindness.
On 14th November the general assembly of the International Association for the
Prevention of Blindness was held in Paris under the chairmanship of Professor de
Lapersonne. Representatives of the French Ministry of Health, the League of Nations,
Great Britain, the United States, Belgium, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain,
Switzerland, and the Argentine were present. After the chairman had outlined the
Association's work for the past year and its plans for the future, a report on industrial
eye accidents was read. The lack of provision for immediate treatment in these cases
was commented upon, and a premium for workers seeking immediate attention was one
of the proposed solutions of the problem. Mr. Bernard Cridiand suggested that before
starting a propaganda campaign it would be as well to obtain uniform statistics on the
causes of blindness in the different countries. The proposal was accepted after a speech
by the Spanish representative, Dr. Marquez.
London Tramway Passes for Blind.
The Metropolitan Municipal Tramways Council have gone into the matter of passes
for the blind, and as a result all authorities have come into a new scheme.
The authorities concerned are those of Croydon, East Ham, Erith, Ilford, London
County Council, Walthamstow and West Ham, and blind persons in possession of the
pass will be able to travel free of charge over these systems.
The principal conditions attaching to the scheme are : —
1. The pass shall be a photographic pass, with leather case, with wording on the
card. These passes can be obtained on application to the tramway manager of the dis-
trict in which the blind person resides. Each authority will deal with applicants resident
in its area or adjacent to its own area if such residence is not within the area of another
issuing authority.
2. Passes will be available for an unlimited period. Conductors will be instructed
to report particulars of worn or damaged passes presented on the cars, and such passes
will be renewed.
3. Each pass will be numbered, the various issuing authorities using a different
initial letter.
4. Application forms shall be submitted to the appropriate registering authority,
who will complete and certify.
5. Lists of passholders will be submitted annually to the appropriate registering
authorities to certify as to the continued blindness and suitability of the holders, and
revise, if necessary, the addresses. The certified list will be scrutinised by the issuing
authority and steps taken to withdraw passes where the conditions have varied to
render the holder no longer eligible for a pass.
6. In the event of a pass being mislaid and not recovered the issuing authority
shall take such action as is considered necessary.
7. Photographs for the passes must be supplied by the blind person applying for
the pass.
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282
BEACON
Museums and the Blind.
The Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, S.W.7, is prepared to give
facilities for parties of blind visitors to go to the Museum and handle certain classes of
objects. Due notice of a party must be given to the Director and a date chosen
mutually suitable.
Recent Activities in Worthing.
The Worthing Society for Befriending the Blind held its annual sale of work at
Christ Church Hall on 3rd December. It was opened by the Mayor, Alderman F. A.
Watts, and the attendance was good. A number of blind workers were engaged in
their various occupations. On 1st December the weekly Club programme included an
original three-act farce written by a local resident, Mr. Noel Bryan- Jones, and on
8th December the second progressive whist drive of a series of five took place.
Research into the Education of the Blind.
The Joint Committee recently set up by the College of Teachers and National
Institute for the Blind has now begun its work of research into the education of the
blind, under the chairmanship of Dr. Eichholz.
In addition to representatives of the College and National Institute the Committee
includes members from the Ministry of Health and Board of Education, together with
persons experienced in educational problems generally, as well as those specially
concerning the blind.
A psychologist, Mr. C. Anderson, who is also an experienced teacher, has been
appointed by the Committee, and has already begun to conduct intelligence teaching
in blind schools in different parts of the country.
The Committee, after drawing up a detailed programme of research, is now hearing
evidence from persons of experience, both blind and seeing, and hopes later to embody
the results of this evidence in its Report.
Anyone interested in the education of the blind, and having suggestions to make,
is invited to communicate with the Secretary of the Committee, Miss M. M. R. Garaway,
at 224, Great Portland Street, London, W.i.
Glasgow Workshops for Blinded Ex-service Men Re-opened.
The Glasgow workshops of the Scottish National Institution for Blinded Sailors
and Soldiers at 2, Queen's Crescent, after undergoing extensive reconstruction, were
formally re-opened last month by Major-General W. J. Maxwell-Scott, the commanding
officer of the Lowland Division. The inauguration ceremony, which was presided
over by the Lord Provost of Glasgow (Sir Thomas Kelly), was attended by members
of the Glasgow Advisory Committee, and by a number of the directors of the Institution
from Edinburgh.
Major-General Maxwell-Scott expressed his pleasure at being able to associate
himself with the work which was being carried on by the Institution. In these days,
he said, when God was rather forgotten in the world and when a spirit of paganism was
beginning to creep into the country, it was a good thing for most people to be reminded
of some of the suffering that existed. The men among them that day who were suffering
were really not to be pitied ; rather should they be almost grateful for the way in which
they were able to get others to practise charity.
The Rev. Dr. Lauchlan MacLean WTatt, D.D., who thanked the directors for their
work in the interests of the Institution, said he did not regard those whose work lay
within the walls of the workshops as the ones who were blind. " It is we who were
blind," said Dr. MacLean Watt, " but through your sacrificial service you have opened
our eyes and wiped away the mists of blindness from our generation ; you have humanised
us, and we thank every one of you for what you have done in enlarging our sympathy
and in deepening our brotherliness."
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283
BEACON
OF MR. & MRS. MATHER AND THEIR GOOD WORK
AT THE WEST INDIES.
By DR. EDWARD E. ALLEN, Director Emeritus, Perkins Institution and Massachusetts
School for the Blind.
MR. AND MRS. RUFUS
GRAVES MATHER have
built an ideal little home
on the Chesapeake, where
one might suppose they
I would like to dwell peace-
^ fully and quietly. But
back in 1903, when Mrs. Mather was Winifred
Holt, she dedicated herself to the cause of
the biind. Her sister, Edith Holt, was
actively associated with her, and it now
appears that her brother, the late Roland
Holt, was her right-hand man, not ouly
surrendering his home for the purposes of
the new venture but also editing all her
reports for ten years. Other influential
people, fired by her enthusiasm, helped her
nobly, things were done, the work grew
apace, and Miss Holt came to be called,
by those who understood her, The Keeper
of the Light. A friend published a pretty
pamphlet about her entitled " The Lady of
the Light House." Her own first pre-
tentious book, " A Beacon for the Blind,"
being a life of Henry Fawcett, Gladstone's
Postmaster-General, appeared in 1915, again
in 1926, and still again in 1 931. For the
period of the war she served mosily abroad,
earning there the name " The Florence
Nightingale of the Blind." Meeting in
Rome the scholar and lecturer, Rufus
Graves Mather, she married him in 1922 and,
as might be expected, fired him with her own
zeal. He has temporarily given up his
work for hers. When to-day they address
audiences he talks on prevention of blind-
ness, she following on education and employ-
ment.
After a few months of rest and refresh-
ment at Fiammettabourne, their pretty home,
they start out for some fiesh field of
endeavour. To them every new case of
blindness that might have been prevented
is a shame and a crime for which the com-
munity involved should be made to feel
itself accountable ; and they are absolutely
right. In each such instance let the com-
munity alleviate in all proper ways, but put
PAGE
284
redoubled effort into preventing its recur-
rence, into stopping its source. Prevent !
prevent ! is the ardent cry of these practical
missionaries of ours. They put prevention
first, alleviation second ; which, alas ! is
not yet the way of the world. Eveiyone
of their numerous Light Houses has been
lighted for these two purposes. Light House
No. 1 had the pioneer Lay Committee for
the Prevention of Blindness, which grew
into the National Society for the Prevention
of Blindness.
Last winter Mr. and Mrs. Mather returned
to their interrupted mission to the West
Indies, landing first on Porto Rico. A very
promising school for blind children had
been started there under unique auspices ;
that is, the Directora and the two teachers
had been specially trained beforehand in
the United States ; and it had already
moved into its handsome new plant near
San Juan.
But so much money was needed every-
where after the hurricane that the next
appropriation for this pioneer school seemed
likely to be withheld. Our friends, arriving
at an opportune moment, went straight
to the well-nigh distracted Directora, and
next to the authorities, particularly Governor
and Mrs. Roosevelt, who were only too eager
to help. And now with this enthusiastic
reinforcement, with speeches by Mr. and Mrs.
Mather to influential people hastily assem-
bled in the garden of "La Fortaleza "
or Government House, backed up by a
moving picture of the activities of the very
school where the local teachers had been
trained, the situation was saved and the
worry-weary Directora, who needed the
respite of a complete change of work and
scene, sent out into the open to begin
taking a detailed census of the blind of the
island. (A letter received from her showers
benedictions on her rescuers.) And before
our visitors left the Board of the School
had unanimously voted to create Light
House No. 20.
BEACON
The following notes will sufficiently chron-
icle visits to other islands.
At St. Thomas, with the support of
the Governor, of Commander and Mrs.
Sturdevant, and of others, Miss Lucy
Gillett of the American Red Cross con-
sented to take a pioneer detailed census
of the blind of the Virgin Islands.
On the steamer going to Antigua,
Mr. and Mrs. Mather met the Governor
of the Leeward Islands. Becoming in-
terested in their suggestions, he promised
to have a census of the blind taken in
the islands, and to recommend suitable
student teachers as applicants from there
for the special education course at Harvard
University and resident scholarships at
Perkins Institution.
In Maitinique Mr. and Mrs. Mather
were leceived by the Governor of the
French West Indies, who courteously
listened to their suggestions to take a
census of the blind and to send student
teachers to the Harvard Class, and offered
his interested co-operation and assistance.
In Barbados they saw the Governor
and made him the same suggestions,
and since have posted sample census
cards there as they have to all the islands
visited. They called upon the blind
in the hospital of Barbados, and had an
interview with the distinguished and
philanthropic ophthalmologist, Sir Randal
Phillips, who was deeply interested in the
popular effort to prevent blindness and
who hoped that conditions might make a
movement of the sort possible there.
In Trinidad they had a talk with the
Governor and spoke at a public meeting
under his patronage, and they showed
their school film. The Chairman of the
Board of the local School for the Blind
presided and introduced them. Later,
they spoke with the Hon. R. S. Wise,
Surgeon-General of Trinidad, who en-
thusiastically received their suggestions.
As a Light House has been strongly urged
for the island, through the editorial
columns of its most influential paper, we
hope that one may be lighted there as soon
as financial conditions permit.
In Bermuda they spoke and showed
the film to a public meeting, held under
the patronage of the Acting-Governor.
At the close of the meeting the Director
of the Board of Health thanked their
visitors and announced that a detailed
census would be taken and that Light
House No. 22 wouid be organised. Grati-
fying public support was also shown here,
in the desire to prevent blindness and to
care for those fellow citizens for whose
self-help and happiness nothing had been
organised hitherto.
It is Mr. and Mrs. Mather's pleasurable
duty to record their gratitude to the
Diplomatic Representatives of the United
States, in all the places which they
visited, for their courtesy and assistance,
which made the founding of these new
Light Houses possible.
Of the procession of Light Houses started
since 1903 and recorded in this and my other
three articles * not all have remained
brilliantly alight. Even so, no such good
deed as the lighting of any one of them is
to-day without effect, if thereby the eye-
sight of a single child has been saved, or
one blinded adult put on his feet again ;
for these are blessings greater than we who
see can fairly estimate.
Dying local interest, personal jealousies
and sentimentalities, lack of funds, or
political changes have extinguished a few
permanently, others temporarily. Never-
theless, let the splendid torch-bearing go on.
There is woeful need. Nowhere in this great
round world of ours has everything been
done for preventing blindness that might be
done. No country has yet satisfactorily
met the call of the blind for social justice.
To be sure the twentieth century has made
rapid strides in both respects, for a reasonable
part of which the Holts and Mathers and
their staffs deserve the credit and our
gratitude. The parent Light House was
in very much a pioneer. Its no inconsider-
able plant and work in New York City have
grown with the passing years. Number 2
is still brightly shining from the other side
of the State," at Buffalo. The Phare de
France, founded by Winifred Holt in 1915,
owns its large plant in Paris — grounds and
several distinct buildings ; main, printery,
gymnasium, and employment barracks. The
energy, the S.O.S. call, the richesse oblige
and self-sacrifice of the newly-married
*The Beacon for November, 1928, The New Beacon
for November 15th, 1930, and The Outlook for the
Blind for June, 1930.
PAGE
285
cJkc3feu
BEACON
Mathers it was that saved and refuelled
this Light House after the war. The Faro
d'ltalia in Rome also owns its buildings.
Mr. Mather is responsible for much of that.
At Warsaw the Polish Light House likewise
owns its plant and is carrying on. Most
of the newer Light Houses are too young
to have achieved things calling for special
record. Notwithstanding this, bits of good
news keep coming in from several ; the
Bengal Society for the Pievention of Blind-
ness, the Canton School, the Chilean and
the Porto Rican Light Houses.
" How far that little candle throws his
beams !
So shines a good deed in a naughty
world."
* * * *
Since the above was written the Mathers
have sent me the following expansion of an
incident mentioned in a previous article.
I append it here as showing their way of
bringing vital matters to pass.
" In 1928, while in Egypt, we were asked
by the President of the American University
of Cairo, Dr. Watson, to start the pioneer
lay movement foi the prevention of blindness
in that country. Blindness being an over-
whelming problem there the only econo-
mical and practical way of dealing with it
seemed to us to attack it at its source,
first by popular Press notices, b} posters with
interesting and instructive pictures, and by
every kind of spoken and written piopaganda.
Dr. Watson immediately initiated in the
French, Mohammedan and English Press
articles stressing the need of preventing
blindness. Then suggestions were sought
for the moving picture scenario on the
subject. Prizes were offered. Some scena-
rios were very good, and moving pictures
for which we had provided the funds,
were made right there in Egypt. Subse-
quently and at our suggestion the scientific
department of the Eastman Teaching Films
Company, in the United States, was asked
by Dr. Watson's representative to create
the microscopic portion of the film showing
the growth of germs producing preventable
blindness.
" Naturally we gladly welcomed the co-
operation of the National Society for the
Prevention of Blindness which offered to
help finance this portion of the film.
" On completion of this film in America
and Egypt we presented copies of it to the
committee founded by us in India for the
pretention of blindness, which is under
the pationage of the Governor of Bengal ;
and we sent another film to Japan to be
used by the group which we had interested
to start the lay campaign of propaganda for
the prevention of blindness and the Light
House there of which the Viscount Shi busawa
is president. A Japanese friend to whom we
sent the moving picture on prevention,
writes : — " I shall be pleased when I shall
be able to let you know how the films work
upon many people's hearts."
Workshop for the Blind, Greenwich.
Attention is called in the Fifty-third
Annual Report for 1930/31, to the change
of name from the Workshop for the Blind
of Kent to the Workshop for the Blind,
Greenwich. During the year, employment
has been found for 28 blind journeymen
and 11 pupils, and sales to the value of
over £7,000 were effected. An interesting
account is given in the report of the Jig-
Saw Puzzle Club, which has recently been
started, in order to raise money for the
Workshop ; the Hon. Secretary, Miss D. V.
Purvis, 104, Westcombe Park Road, Black-
heath, S.E. 3, circulates puzzles to members
of the Club, and all profits are handed over
to the Workshop.
DIARY OF EVENTS.
Notices of Annual Meetings and important Committee
Meetings are inserted in The New Beacon as space
permits. Secretaries are requested to send intimations
to the Editor not later than the 3rd of the month
for insertion in the next issue.
Northern Counties' Association for the Blind.
December 16th. — At Halifax, Finance Committee.
December 17th. — At Halifax, Executive Committee.
December 17th, — At Halifax, Quarterly Meeting
of the General Committee.
February 22nd to March 18th, 1932. — Home Teachers '
Training Course, at the Leeds Institution for the
Blind, Roundhay Road, Leeds.
March 7th to March 18th, 1932.— Home Teachers'
Refresher Course, at the Leeds Institution for
the Blind, Roundhay Road, Leeds.
Birmingham Royal Institution for the Blind.
January nth, 1932. — General Committee, at Council
House.
January 14th, 1932.— After-Care Committee, at
174, Edmund Street.
January 18th, 1932.— Trade Committee, at Carpenter
Road, or Workshops, Harborne.
National Institute for the Blind.
December 18th. — Finance Committee.
January 6th, 1932. — Education and Research Com-
mittee.
January 14th, 1932. — General Purposes Committee.
January 27th, 1932. — Executive Council.
PAGE
286
cDPicZMcw
BEACON
Published by ■/ II, /A f f 1 iX. Editorial Offices:
the National r\ ¥"* /"A I I I X. 224 Cr<a' Ptfr|-
/™/«^_./or / \\ A /I X Lo„nLs'r^.i:
BUY BRITISH BLIND-MADE GOODS !
THE marketing of blind-made goods should benefit considerably from the
" Buy British " campaign if sales organisers and salesmen take full advantage
of it. Blind-made goods are typical British goods — excellent in style, quality
and workmanship, and thoroughly dependable. " Buy British " posters and
other publicity matter should be used by workshops for the blind, sales depots
of home workers' schemes, motor travelling vans, and individual blind craftsmen
wherever possible, in conjunction with some pithy description of blind-made
goods, such as,: " Home-made, Hand-made and Well-made."
Some managers of selling depots for blind-made goods understand the arts of salesmanship
and advertising, and are constantly on the watch for new ideas and openings. But they must
be in the minority, because there is continual evidence that the general public know scarcely
anything at all about the handiwork of the blind.
The usual reply to any suggestion of the " invisibility " of blind-made goods is "Advertising
is far too expensive." But is it more expensive than storing huge stocks till they are out of date,
and then selling them at cut prices and inviting criticism of the old-fashioned styles ?
Every salesman knows, of course, that " It pavs to advertise." But, faced with lack of
cash, does he sigh and change the subject, or does he ask himself the question : " Why pay to
advertise ? " He certainly has not much chance of getting free advertising space in newspapers,
but if he has an amiable disposition he has a very good chance of getting a kindly editor to
give him something better — free editorial space. Not many managers of local theatres and
cinemas would refuse to throw a notice on the screen at the intervals. Millions of pounds are
raised each year, by scientific begging, to help the helpless ; surely, then, it should be compara-
tively easy to beg for a little personal assistance or influence to help the helpful ?
To supplement such local free publicity, a national campaign is needed, and if managed
wisely, its cost should not exceed the total amount of money now spent throughout the country on
paid publicity. Publicity matter would be prepared from a national standpoint, but it would
be applied locally, and the National Blind-made Goods Poster would be as personal to Land's End
as it would be to John o' Groats.
"IN EXCELSIS"
We have recorded on another page the death of William Henry Jackson, the " blind
padre," whose work among the blind of Burma has been compared to that done for the lepers
by Father Damien. There is, then, a rather sad appropriateness in a pamphlet just issued, which
describes the Columbia records of Christmas music composed by Father Jackson, and written
throughout to conform to the requirements of Burmese poetic metre, and to serve as a sort of
bridge between Burmese and Western music. The musical ability of the blind has often
been commented upon in these pages, and it is interesting to realise that this link between
Western and Eastern music has been forged by a blind musician. The records were sung by
a choir of little Burmese boys who were blind, and we are told that the fact that their unaccom-
panied voices drop in pitch during the recital is due in part to the fact that in a recording
studio it is not possible for the conductor to move amongst them with the " stream of mixed
admonitions and encouragement to which they are accustomed." The first record gives an
epiphany hymn, together with a Burmese rendering of the " Gloria in excelsis," while the
second consists of various items composed by Father Jackson from year to year for the Midnight
Mass of Christmas, and telling the story of the shepherds and the angels. Father Jackson
literally burnt himself out in the service of the people he loved, and the fact that he volun-
tarily adopted even the food and dress of the poorest Burman, and was willing to undergo priva-
tions which would have taxed the strength of a far more robust man, must have done as much
as any spoken word to bring home to his people the reality of his message, while, in the words
of one of his friends, his " physical blindness seemed only to emphasise his intense spiritual
vision." The Editor.
PAGE
287
BEACON
BRITISH "WIRELESS FOR THE
BLIND" FUND.
T
■^HE British "Wireless for
the Blind " Fund has just
issued a short Report and
Statement of Accounts from
5th December, 1929, to 30th
November, 1931. The
Chairman of the Fund, Cap-
tain Sir Beachcroft Towse, V.C., the Vice-
Chairman, Captain Ian Fraser, M.P., and
the members of the Committee, blind and
sighted, record their deep gratitude to
the thousands of listeners who have so
generously assisted the Fund.
Up to the present date a total of £38,307
has been subscribed, mainly in response to
Broadcast Appeals made by H.R.H. The
Prince of Wales, Mr. Winston Churchill,
and Captain Ian Fraser. The sum of
£33.7D2 shown in the accounts as having
been expended on the purchase of sets and
accessories has been sufficient to bay
18,500 sets, all of which have been distributed
to blind listeners. To complete its initial
task the Fund now needs £4,500 and in spite
of hard times, it is hoped that this sum will
be forthcoming by the beginning of the
New Year. The Committee has, in fact,
felt so strongly the impossibility of leaving
out in the cold the remaining 2,000 blind
people, most of whom live in districts
remote from the towns, that they have
actually committed themselves to ordering
a number of the sets still needed.
When the whole blind population has
thus been equipped with sets, a compara-
tively small annual sum will be required
to help in the maintenance of sets, particu-
larly in those parts of the country which
are peculiarly hard hit by prolonged de-
pression, and to meet new need arising
from the lamentable fact that every year
a certain number of our fellow countrymen
lose their sight. The Fund has been careful
to avoid the expense of setting up any
central maintenance service, which would
have involved the employment of head-
quarters' staff and liability for innumerable
journeys. On the contrary, it has firmly
maintained the policy of encouraging local
initiative in the installation and maintenance
of sets, and the Committee pays a tribute
of admiration first to the County and local
Societies for the Blind which have gallantly
shouldered the responsibility, and secondly
to retailers throughout the country who
offered their services voluntarily to the
British " Wireless for the Blind " Fund.
The accounts of the Fund show how small
a proportion of the subscriptions and dona-
tions have been absorbed by administrative
costs and the Committee intends to pursue
a similar policy in future years.
The B.B.C. has from the beginning
of the Fund's work thrown itself heart and
soul into forwarding the cause of the Fund ;
without the help of the B.B.C. the Fund
could never have been established. Not
only has it by its broadcast appeals been in-
strumental in raising the bulk of the money,
but its officials have devoted many hours
of voluntary labour to serving on the Fund's
Committee and giving it the benefit of their
technical experience.
Dr. W. H. Eccles most helpfully con-
sented to act as technical adviser to the
Fund and has made himself responsible
for the design of all the sets for each type
of need.
The National Institute for the Blind,
in addition to a substantial contribution
in money, has given freely the services of
its experienced staff and has facilitated
the work of the Fund in innumerable ways.
The Wireless Trade, and particularly
the Radio Manufacturers' Association, which
presented to the Fund 1,000 sets, with full
equipment, has rendered tireless assistance
by gifts of sets and parts, by giving money
and collecting subscriptions, by waiving
the usual royalties paid on valve sets and
by installing voluntarily sets for those
would-be listeners who could not get sets
erected themselves.
The response of the general public has
been wonderful ; there were donations of
outstanding generosity, such as that of
the gentleman who has equipped with sets
all the blind in Gloucestershire, but on
the whole the great sum of £38,307 has
been given in small sums, every one of
which is a token of the deep sympathy
which blindness evokes.
PAGE
288
BEACON
METHODS OF REMUNERATION.
VII.
By BEN PURSE.
IT has been repeatedly stated of late
in certain quarters that there is a
disposition among writers who speci-
fically deal with industrial problems
associated with blind welfare work
to lay too much stress upon the pro-
ductive capacity of non-seeing workers .
As we have indicated on more than one
occasion, we cannot possibly agree with this
viewpoint, for it seems to us that it is of very
material inportance that all should strive
to attain a high level of production. How
else is it possible to obtain real wages, and
in what satisfactory manner can we other-
wise show that there is real value in good
and efficient training ? It surely is true
also that every worker should strive to give
the greatest value in return for the payments
he receives, in order that the demands upon
public charity may not be such as to consti-
tute a growing and an oppressive burden.
When we remember that nearly 70 per
cent, of the blind of Britain are classified as
unemployables, and that their maintenance
must of necessity involve a considerable
public charge, it surely is incumbent upon
those who already are or who can be made
efficient, to make a sensible contribution
to their own support. Subsidies there must
be, and no one objects to such forms of
help being based upon a liberal scale ;
but when it is argued that production is of
no account and that incomes should be
stabilised at a comparatively high level,
then of necessity we are bound to examine
the theories and conclusions upon which
these inordinate demands are said to rest.
We have frequently heard it stated that
the disability of blindness is so serious
a handicap that no civilised community
should permit such citizens to depend for
their subsistence upon the labour or the
results of the labour which they are capable
of performing. Fortunately, however, this
point of view finds but little favour among
well-informed and self-respecting blind
workers. The preaching of such pernicious
doctrines is fraught with danger, and how-
ever unwilling we may be, there are times
when it is essential to expose all such
fallacies. Everybody recognises the necessity
for providing maintenance on behalf of
those who are so physically or mentally
handicapped as to render them incapable
of making any real contribution towards
their own support, but that in no wise
excuses those who are much better equipped,
and who are physically fit to discharge a
good day's work, from the obligation to win
for themselves a decent standard of life.
Only those who imagine that they possess
some indefinable claim upon what they
regard as the limitless resources of the State
can talk and act so foolishly; but their
indifference towards the duties of citizenship
constitutes no valid reason for pandering
to their depraved tastes or yielding assent
to a vicious point of view by capitulating
to their noisy demonstrations. It cannot
be too often emphasised that blindness in
itself and of itself confers no inalienable
rights upon those who labour under its
disadvantages to make claims upon the
community that are essentially unreason-
able. The most salutary feature of the
present situation is that such claims are
but rarely made by the really efficient,
self-respecting workman, for he is conscious
of his duties and not unmindful of those
obligations which must devolve upon every
citizen who is led to examine thoughtfully
those crucial economic problems which are
to-day fraught with so much difficulty.
Those who devote so much energy and
enterprise in the futile endeavour to secure
substantial advantages in return for negli-
gible services would do well if they turned
such mis-spent energy into channels of
communal usefulness. They would be
happier men and women by so doing, and
they would at least have the consolation
of knowing that their standard of life
is the heritage of practical endeavour.
In this article we propose to discuss the
system of wage payments obtaining at the
Workshops for the Blind, Liverpool. This
institution is one of the largest establish-
ments in the country, and boasts a record
PAGE
289
BEACON
that can be emulated but by few organisa-
tions. Its activities as a great employment
agency and home teaching organisation
date back to 1857, and although the society
has suffered many vicissitudes, its progressive
development is one of the stirring romances
with which the annals of voluntaryism
abound. It was once said by an important
Government official who visited the Cornwallis
Street establishment, that the place too
closely resembled a modern factory, not a
charitable institution. The criticism evoked
an appropriate reply : " These buildings
were erected with the object of being known
as workshops ; they are hives of industry
in which our workers are engaged, and
although we may lack the regalia of the
drawing-room, we can at least supply the
capacity and zest of the British workman."
This is the spirit which seems to have
actuated the management right through the
ages, and the policy has evoked a response
that is the envy of much more pretentious
organisations. It is fitting before rapidly
passing to the discussion of wage problems,
that we should say a word about the social
side of this great undertaking.
When the modern home teaching society
has learned a great deal more than is at
present represented by its work, it will still
have much to learn from the Liverpool
organisation. Thirty years ago, when the
writer of this article looked into the activities
of the society on Merseyside, he found it
to be an agency active and alert, susceptible
of the needs of the blind of the area, and
responsive to their demands so far as the
financial position would admit. With the
introduction of grants in aid, its work has
developed, until to-day, it may easily be
described as one of the largest and best-
equipped services in the country. The
society is also to be congratulated in that it
has steadily increased the number of blind
and partially blind home teachers, so that
criticism from this point of view is disarmed.
Among other features we must admire
is the attitude of the Committee in seeking
out suitable sites in the city, which are being
utilised as kiosks, affording increased employ-
ment under remunerative conditions to
those who are fortunate enough to occupy
these stands. Other agencies for the blind
would do well to note this and to "go and
do likewise." We are precluded, owing to the
scope of the subject, from dealing more
exhaustively with these aspects of social
service, but perhaps on some other occasion
we may more appropriately return to it.
Our immediate object is to say something
about the wage system obtaining at these
Workshops, and to discover, if we are able,
what fundamental differences exist here as
contrasted with other systems.
The management states that they believe
in piecework conditions of employment
wherever such are practicable. Local trade
union rates are paid, to which a substantial
gratuity is added, described as " augmenta-
tion of wages grant." This allowance is
not a fixed quantity, but varies in proportion
to the character of the industry. It is held
that since some occupations are more
remunerative than others, it necessarily
follows that in order to give every employee
a reasonable interest in his job and an
incentive to work, the augmentation of wages
grant must take account of these variable
factors for the purposes of adjustment.
For example, in addition to trade earnings,
a brush-maker receives an augmentation
of wages grant of 16s. 6d. weekly, a mat-
maker has a basic subsidy of 16s. 6d.,
plus 50 per cent, of net earnings up to but
not exceeding 28s. A basket-maker em-
ployed on ballast hampers (held to be a
remunerative class of work) is paid a subsidy
of 10s. 6d. It is interesting to observe,
however, that all women workers receive
a subsidy of 16s. 6d. per week. It is also
worth noting that although the County of
Lancashire has suffered severely throughout
a prolonged industrial depression, the manage-
ment of the Liverpool Workshops for the
Blind have been able to keep the whole of
their employees fully occupied and have
not had recourse to the Labour Exchange
as a means of supplementing income.
The manager in a significant message
says : " Everybody employed here is ex-
pected to possess some earning power,
and every penny spent is requiied to be an
investment designed for production and
more pennies."
In 1912, 155 blind persons were employed ;
on March 31st, 1931, the workpeople num-
bered 179.
In previous articles we have noted the
great variations from year to year both in
real wages and augmentation grants ; we
PAGE
29O
BEACON
have further observed that in some instances
the last-mentioned item appeared to be
growing at an alarming rate. These ten-
dencies, however, are signally, absent in
the figures given below.
Wages
Augmentation
1929. 1930. 1931.
£ I £
8,782 8,888 8,757
9.371 9,461 9,666
We think that it is symptomatic of a well-
ordered wage system where employment
has been fairly regular throughout the years,
that the returns should not show violent
fluctuations from one period to another,
and it is interesting to note that the Liver-
pool system complies with this crucial test.
In addition to the benefits detailed above,
the following figures will be of interest : —
Dinners to blind employees
Holidays and Sick Fund . .
Grants to Unemployed and
Unemployable
Benevolent Fund
Boarding out cases
Home Workers
Annuitants
1929. 1930. 1931.
£ £ £
600 628 605
375 342 382
i,336 24,979 31, 971
123 219 384
260 223 203
698 871 776
756 814 944
It is impossible to peruse these figures
{To be
without feeling a thrill of satisfaction that
in times so difficult this great organisation
should have been able to present such a
magnificent record of achievement. It may
be true to say that there is nothing ornate
or luxurious to attract or fascinate the eye
of the connoisseur, but for downright utility
and practical work, this edifice erected in
Cornwallis Street, Liverpool, is a monument
to realism such as we but rarely find. It
might be well when in the future we are
planning vast establishments we could spare
a little of the ornate and the luxurious and
devote more serious attention to the scope
and intention for which such structures are
designed. The atmosphere of a workshop
is really what is most needed, and the visitor
to the Liverpool establishment is at once
inpressed with the fact that this genuine
atmosphere prevails in every feature of the
Society's undertakings. The organisation
is fortunate in having at its disposal men of
first-rate business ability who have given
unstinted service to the cause, and as a direct
consequence of such assiduous attention
the level of business efficiency achieved is
seldom equalled in this or any other country.
continued.)
E. D. MACGREGOR PRIZE 1932.
WHEN Mr. E. D. Macgregor
left the Blind Department
of the Ministry of Health
in October, 1926, there
was a wide -spread wish
on the part of his fellow-
workers that his eminent
services to the cause which they had at
heart should be marked in some signal way.
A sum of money was raised which at
Mr. Macgregor's suggestion was invested
so that the interest amounting to £4. 4s.
a year might be available as an annual
award.
For the first few years the competition
was limited to Home Teachers or those
who hoped to become Home Teachers, and
the prize was given for originality and skill
in the teaching of Braille and Moon. It
has now been decided to throw the competi-
tion open to all interested in work for the
blind and to offer the prize for the bes
essay on the following subject : —
" The machinery for the administration
of the welfare of the blind and the best
means for its simplification."
The following are the regulations governing
the award : —
(1) Essays should not exceed 5,000 words
in length.
(2) Each competitor must use a nom de
plume and no other name must appear on
the essay.
(3) Essays must be accompanied by a
sealed envelope bearing the nom de plume
on the outside and containing the name and
address of the competitor.
(4) Essays must reach the Hon. Registrar,
College of Teachers of the Blind, 224-6-8,
Great Portland Street, London, W. 1, not
later than 2nd May, 1932.
(5) The Union of Counties Associations
for the Blind reserves to itself the right to
withhold the prize if, in the opinion of the
College of Teachers of the Blind, there is no
essay of sufficient merit.
PAGE
291
BEACON
RECENT
PUBLICATIONS
Blind People in Japan.
" Blind People in Japan, their Protection
and Education," is an extremely interesting
pamphlet published by the Osaka Mainichi,
one of the most important and widely read
Japanese newspapers. While the pamphlet
is mainly concerned with the special work
of the Osaka Mainichi, which has made the
care of the blind one of its chief interests,
it also gives a valuable account of general
work for the blind in Japan to-day, especially
on the educational side.
In 1923, the Emperor of Japan issued an
Imperial Ordinance, which made it obliga-
tory on every prefecture to have at least
one blind school. The latest available
statistics (for 1928) state that there are 72
schools for the blind in Japan, 537 teachers,
and 3,768 students. Most of the schools
have their own Braille libraries, and in the
larger towns there are libraries exclusively
for blind readers. Since 1925, the Braille
ballot has been legalised, and in the elections
of 1930, 5,427 blind persons recorded their
votes.
About ten years ago, the Osaka Mainichi
completed large new publishing offices,
and in order to commemorate the event
decided to begin the publication of a Braille
weekly newspaper, The Braille Mainichi.
Its circulation reaches the figure of 2,500 per
week, and its readers are to be found not
only on the Mainland of Japan, but in
Taiwan, Karafuto, and Manchuria. Its
Editor is a blind man, Mr. Kyotaro
Nakamura, who was formerly Principal
of the School for the Blind at Formosa,
and who represented Japan at the Inter-
national Conference in London in 1914.
He has travelled widely and visited institu-
tions for the blind in France, Germany,
Great Britain and Russia, and is now engaged
on behalf of the Japanese Education Depart-
ment in the preparation of school-books
for blind students.
In 1923, when schools for the blind were
generally established in conformity to the
imperial decree, the Osaka Mainichi was
given authority to act as publishers to all
blind schools.
Two years later, the organisation took up
the important question of the physical
training of the younger blind, and organised
the National Athletic Federation of Schools
for the Blind. It encourages public speaking
among blind students, and organises an
annual oratorical contest throughout the
Empire.
The Charity Corps of the Osaka Mainichi
is a very active body, working for the general
welfare of the blind, the prevention of
blindness and the teaching of Braille to adults
by means of travelling teachers. An in-
teresting account is given of its activities
in the work of prevention during the past
three years ; leading oculists have under-
taken to examine those whose eyesight is
failing, free of all charge, and whenever there
seems hope of saving the sight, arrangements
are made for hospital and operative treat-
ment. Over 8,400 men and women have
already been tested, and of these over
3,200 have been diagnosed as curable.
The Blind Record.
A well-illustrated number of The Blind
Record for November, gives an account
of the part played by some of the blind
workers of the London Association for the
Blind in the English Folk Dance display,
held in Hyde Park during the summer.
Dancing is one of the most delightful forms
of exercise in which the blind can take part,
and the photographs of the blind dancers
are full of movement and charm. The
silver gilt medal awarded by the London
Gardens Exhibition for wicker garden
requisites has recently been won by the
Association.
English Catalogue from Germany.
The German Blind Association, Berlin,
which has its Aids for the Blind Department
at Moltkestrasse 7, Dresden, N. 23, shows
great enterprise in issuing its catalogue
and price list of apparatus in English. The
catalogue includes descriptions of type-
writers, Braille machines, writing frames,
letter tablets, clocks, piano-tuning tools,
games, and playing cards. The prices stated
in the catalogue do not include postage and
packing, and foreign orders are charged
an extra 5 per cent, to cover expenses.
PAGE
292
BEACON
ACHIEVEMENTS
OF THE BLIND
Organ Playing and Piano Repairing.
Mr. A. Hilton, of Holden Avenue, Astley
Bridge, near Bolton, blind from his early
years, has for the past fifteen years been
organist and choirmaster at the Walmsley
Unitarian Church, near Bolton, has com-
posed many hymn tunes and walks five
miles from his home to the church alone.
His hobby is repairing pianos, and none is
too decrepit for him to tackle.
A Blind Whistler.
Making his first appearance at the London.
Shoreditch, last month, Alveretti, the blind
young Spanish whistler, was one of the best
applauded features. In addition to his
popularity with the audience, Alveretti
is a great favourite backstage on account
of his cheerful demeanour and his extra-
ordinary faculty for finding his way about
unaided.
Tally-ho !
Miss Edith Wagstaff Smith, of Exmouth,
Devon, who lost her sight when she was
seventeen, has only been riding for just
over a year and now follows hounds with
the East Devon hunt.
" Ever since I can remember," she said
to a Press representative, " I have always
wanted to ride, and I was always passionately
fond of horses. I made up my mind when
very young that one day I would ride, and
ride in Hyde Park, too. Then the oppor-
tunity for learning arose about a
year ago, and owing to the good
teaching of my riding-master I am
now proficient enough to carry out
my ambition . ' '
Success of Blind Scouts.
In a competition held at the Old
Castle, Frederick E. Smith (13) and
William J. Beckers (12), pupils of the
Royal Victoria School for the Blind,
Newcastle, won the Duke of North-
umberland's Medals for Northumbria
Small Pipes playing. The former
also won second prize for beginners.
Both are members of the 26th
Newcastle Troop of Blind Scouts.
Successful London Debut.
Last month, Mr. Abrasha Haitowitsch, a
Russian-born violinist, blind from babyhood,
gave a recital at the Dorchester Hotel. This
was his first appearance in England, although
he has played all over the United States.
" I studied at the Imperial Conservatoire
at St. Petersburg, to which I was admitted by
special decree of the Tsar," Mr. Haitowitsch
told a Press representative.
" In those days it was very difficult to get
music in Braille, so I had to have pieces
played to me, and learn them by heart.
" Then I began the task of transcribing
music into Braille, which I had learned, so
that by adapting the system to my own
needs I can read a musical score in the same
way in which the blind read a book.
' ' When the war broke out I could be of no
service to my country, so I went to the
States. Now I am going to Paris and I hope
to be able to visit the new Russia, for I
should dearly like to play in my native land."
Institution for the Blind of Dewsbury,
Batley and District.
The Eleventh Annual Report for 1930/31
records, with deep regret, the death of
Councillor W. Howgate, the President of the
Institution, who had given very valuable
services in the cause of blind welfare for
twelve years. Bad trade has affected the
Institution during the year, but it has been
possible, in spite of this, to keep the workers
on full time. The Committee took part
m the Dewsbury Chamber of Trade Exhibi-
tion and demonstrations of machine knitting
were given by blind workers,
till
Presentation of While Sticks to the Blind of Sunderland.
PAGE
293
BEACON
TWO VALUABLE GUIDES.
A Chronological Survey of Work for the Blind and a Revised Directory and Year Book.
THE National Institute for
the Blind announces two
interesting publications for
the New Year.
The first is "A Chrono-
logical Survey of Work for
the Blind," with an Appendix
on "The Prevenlion of Blindness," and a
Bibliography, from the earliest records up
to the year 1930. It has been compiled
by Mr." Henry J. Wagg, O.B.E., Hon.
Secretary of the Barclay Workshops for
Blind Women, Hon. Treasurer of the Greater
London Fund for the Blind, Member of the
Executive Council of the National Institute
for the Blind, etc., assisted by Miss Mary G.
Thomas, Information Officer, National Insti-
tute. It is published for the Institute by
Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd.; its price is 5s.
The Chronology, which is prefaced by a
foreword by Lord Blanesburgh, Chairman
of the Advisory Committee on the Welfare
of the Blind, sets out to show the gradual
development of work for the blind, from
those early times when we read, in an account
of a Home, that " begging was encouraged
on the part of the inmates " down to the
present day. It contains notes on blind
legislation, tracing it from the Elizabethan
Poor Law to the Local Government Act,
1929, and describes all kinds of apparatus
for the use of the blind. While it is not
intended to be a history of blind men and
women, it records those who have specially
earned distinction in ameliorating the lot
of those handicapped like themselves.
Though the Chronology is primarily con-
cerned with the blind in Great Britain and
Ireland, the main facts of work for the blind
in other countries are included.
The book is illustrated, and its appendices
deal with the prevention of blindness, the
recommendations of the Royal Commission
of 1889, the Agenda of Conferences held in
this country between 1883 and 1914, together
with a bibliography.
The second publication is a " Year Book
and Directory of Agencies for the Blind,"
a successor of the Directory issued jointly
several years ago by Gardner's Trust for
the Blind and the National Institute.
The passing of the Local Government Act,
1929, has had a considerable effect on blind
work, and has made a new edition of the
Directory of Agencies very necessary.
The present Directory gives a list (largely
compiled from information collected through
the Union of Counties Associations for the
Blind) of registering and general welfare
agencies, schools, workshops, pension
societies, etc., in England, Wales, Scotland,
Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State.
In addition, the Directory gives the names
and addresses of all ophthalmic hospitals
in England and Wales, lists of schools
for the partially blind, of appliances for the
blind, of postal regulations for blind litera-
ture, the addresses of organisations (e.g.,
Toe H, B.B.C.) not specifically for the blind,
but useful to those who are engaged in blind
welfare, the names and prices of over thirty
periodicals in embossed type, a summary
of legislation for the blind, bibliography, etc.
The recent World Conference has quick-
ened an interest in international work for
the blind, and a section of the Directory
is devoted to agencies in the British Empire
and abroad, which aims at giving those who
use it at least one address in almost every
country to which enquiiies may be addressed.
The price of the Directory is 2s.
Copies of both these publications can
now be ordered from the National Institute
for the Blind, 224, Great Portland Street,
London, W. I.
OBITUARY
We deeply regret to announce the deaths
of:—
The Rev. William Henry Jackson,
better known as Father Jackson, the or-
ganiser of the mission to the blind in Burma,
at Rangoon. What Father Damien was
to the lepers of Molokai, Father Jackson was
to the blind of Burma. He himself was a
blind man, a Londoner, a son of Mr. R. S.
Jackson, who was Liberal M.P. for Green-
wich from 1906 to 1910. He graduated at
PAGE
294
BEACON
Wadham College, Oxford, and after holding
curacies at Hoxton and Furlough, he went
out to Burma under the auspices of the
S.P.G. to devote himself to bettering the
condition of the 25,000 blind folk in that
country. With Kemmendine as his centre,
Father Jackson did a wonderful work
among the blind, both in teaching them
crafts, such as basket and box making,
which he had to learn first himself, in
creating a phonetic Burmese script which
can be produced in Braille — the first matrix he
punched out on old petrol tins — and also in
his pastoral visits to all parts of the country.
J. J. Burton, O.B.E., J.P., F.G.S., of
Nunthorpe, at the age of 83. Mr. Burton
was one of Tees-side's leading ironmasters
and social workers, and rendered conspicuous
service during the war in controlling the
steel and munitions output. He was a
member of the Advisory Committee on the
Welfare of the Blind (Ministry of Health),
of the Northern Counties Association for
the Blind, and of the Executive Council
of the National Institute for the Blind. He
was a prominent worker for the Seamen's
Mission, and a Knight of Grace of the St.
John Ambulance Association.
Alexander Buttars. A native of Leuchars,
Mr. Buttars lost his sight through the
effects of scarlet fever, and entered the Royal
Dundee Institution for the Blind at the age
of 16, in the year 1876, and served his time
as a basketmaker. In this capacity he was
promoted instructor of trainees and under-
foreman ; this post he has held since 1907
until two years ago, when he retired, having
reached the age limit. In 1906 he organised
the local branch of the National League of the
Blind ; since then he has held office con-
tinuously and for a number of years he was
selected as the Scottish representative on
the National Executive. In 1917 he was
chosen to represent the League on the
Scottish Advisory Committee on the Wel-
fare of the Blind. He was held in high
esteem by the management of the Royal
Dundee Institution. Among the numerous
other positions he held was that of President
of the Blind Workers' Sick and Benevolent
Fund. He was also one of the founders of
the Reading and Recreation (Tub. When
the Institution Orchestra came into being
in 1923 Mr Buttars became their President.
REVIEWS
REPORTS
Institute for Blind Children, Stuttgart.
The report for 1929-31 (two years are
covered owing to financial difficulties that
make the printing of an Annual Report
impossible) takes the reader for an imaginary
walk through the Institute, so that he may
see the blind children at work and play.
Babies are shown in the Kindergarten,
learning to lace their shoes, sorting blocks,
or handling toy animals. Older children
are photographed sand-modelling, handling
a large model Zeppelin, feeding the deer in
the Zoo, dancing and drilling in the gym-
nasium. A sight-saving class and " our
Helen Keller," a very attractive little deaf-
blind girl reading her teacher's hand, are
also shown. A view of the Institute from
the air gives an idea of its attractive situation
in well- wooded country.
C. P. and Behar Blind Relief Association.
The Third Annual Report of the Associa-
tion for 1930/31 states there are more
than 4,000 blind boys of school age in the
Central Provinces and Behar, and over
40,800 blind persons altogether. Work on
their behalf was set on foot in 1928 chiefly
through the efforts of a blind man, Mr.
Wadegaonker, and the school opened in
that year now has 20 pupils, who are
admitted between the ages of 9 and 16. In
addition to his work in connection with the
school, Mr. Wadegaonker is keenly interested
in the question of prevention, and a scheme
has been drawn up to deal with this matter.
School for the Indigent Blind, Liverpool.
The Annual Report for 1930/31 states
that the new buildings (comprising sales
shop, offices, girls' workrooms and training
department, recreation rooms, and rooms for
domestic training) are in course of erection,
and the Committee look forward to this
long-needed extension of its work with
much interest and hopefulness.
The report records with deep regret the
death of Miss Gibbons, whose services as a
visitor at Hardman Street were greatly
appreciated by the girls.
PAGE
295
BEACON
UNION OF COUNTIES ASSOCIATIONS
FOR THE BLIND.
Report of General Meeting.
THE General Meeting of the
Council of the Union of
Counties Associations for the
Blind was held at Cloth-
workers' Hall, Mincing Lane,
E.C. 3, on Thursday, Novem-
ber 19th, 1931, by kind
permission of the Master, Wardens and
Court of Assistants of the Clothworkers'
Company, under the chairmanship of Mr.
P.M.Evans, M.A., LL.D.
The chairman referred to the loss sus-
tained by the cause of the blind through the
death of four valued workers and colleagues :
the Rev. Dr. Fitzpatrick, President of
Queens' College, Cambridge, and Chairman
of the Eastern Counties Association for
the Blind, Dr. James Graham of Leeds,
Miss Margaret Comber of the North- Western
Counties Association and Mr. W. H. Dixson
of Oxford, for many years a co-opted member
of the Union.
The election of Mr. W. H. Tate as a co-
opted member, in view of his long association
with work for the blind, and of Miss Garaway,
as a co-opted member, representing the
College of Teachers, was carried unanimously.
The Chairman submitted a Report of the
Prevention of Blindness Committee, in which
a programme outlining the scope of its
work was given ; this included investigation
into preventive measures among infants
and children of school age, the means of
prevention among persons of post-school
and middle life ; investigation into occupa-
tional and industrial blindness ; research
and propaganda, and the certification of the
blind and the ascertainment of the causes of
blindness. The need for securing reliable
evidence of the causes of blindness in this
country, with their prevention, has become
incieasingly apparent, and a request received
by the Committee from the Minister of
Health to consider a report from the Council
of British Ophthalmologists on the certifi-
cation of the blind has led to the preparation
of a memorandum on the subject for sub-
mission to the Minister of Health.
The Committee are greatly indebted to
their Scottish colleagues for advice and
PAGE
296
example and have found their co-operation
of great value.
The North Regional Conference of Certi-
fying Ophthalmic Surgeons, convened by
the Northern Counties Association, is
evidence of the interest taken by the Northern
Counties in the subject of certification of
blindness, and the Committee is encouraged
to hope that this interest will be extended
to its Report.
The Committee has further established
contact with the American Foundation
for the Blind, whose research agent, Miss
McKay, visited England this summer and
has since supplied the Committee with
interesting matter relating to the causes of
blindness.
The subject of the essay for the Macgregor
Prize for 1932 was placed before the meeting,
and it was agreed that the competition should
be widened to include all persons engaged in,
or interested in, work for the blind. The
subject is " The machinery for the adminis-
tration of the blind and the best means for
its simplification." Full particulars will
be found on page 291.
A resolution commending the problem of
educational provision for partially blind
children to the earnest consideration of the
Board of Education was earned unanimously,
the urgency of the problem being em-
phasised by a number of members present.
A paper on Domestic Science Classes,
including cookery and laundry work, was
read by Miss Tenney, Secretary to the
Eastern Counties Association, in which she
described the courses of instruction in
Domestic Science which are being conducted
at the East Anglian School for the Blind
and Deaf at Gorleston-on-Sea and at the
West of England Institution for the Blind
at Exeter.* These courses are at present
for girls only, but it was felt that there are
openings for employment of boys in domestic
work and that an exploration of the possi-
bilities in this direction should be made.
The afternoon session was devoted to a
paper read by Mr. Whitehead, Hon. Trea-
surer of the Northern Counties Association,
on " The Wages and Conditions of Blind
* See page zjg.
BEACON
Workers and their relation to trading
accounts," the full text of which will be
given in the printed Report of the Meeting. |
The discussion provoked by Mr. Whitehead's
paper was opened by Mr. S. W. Starling,
Chairman of the Association of Workshops
for the Blind, followed by a large number of
interested members.
Before the meeting concluded, Miss King
gave an enthusiastic account of the work
which had been begun among retarded
children at Court Grange, Abbotskerswell,
from which it seemed clear that the school
has met a need.
The date of the Annual Meeting of the
Union was provisionally fixed for the 23rd
June, 1932, and the meeting concluded with
a vote of thanks to the chairman.
Northern Counties Association for the Blind.
On Tuesday, 17th November, 1931, the
Northern Counties Association for the Blind
held the usual Home Teachers' Conference,
under the chairmanship of Mr. A. Siddall.
The Conference took place in the Milton
Hall, Manchester, and there was a record
attendance, over 130 Home Teachers and
others being present.
Mr. H. J. Dunkerley, North- Western Area
Council for Broadcast Adult Education,
having called the attention of the Associa-
tion to the possibility of forming Listening
Groups for the Blind, was invited to speak
on the subject to the Home Teachers of the
North, who are in touch with the majority
of the 19,000 cases on the Northern Register.
Mr. Dunkerley was accompanied by Mr. G. W.
Gibson, Yorkshire Area Council for Broad-
cast Adult Education, who spoke on matters
relating to Yorkshire.
Mr. Sarney, Educational Engineer, men-
tioned the expert assistance available on
the technical side.
Miss A. M. Hewer, National Library for
the Blind (Northern Branch), gave an
account of the Listening Group already
formed at the Northern Branch of the
National Library, also the cultural activities
of the Library.
The Northern Counties Association hopes
iCopies of the Report of the Meeting will be obtain-
able on application to the Secretary, Union of Counties
Associations for the Blind, 66, Victoria Street, London,
S.W.i.
that the interest aroused by the Conference
will facilitate the formation of Listening
Groups, either for the blind alone, or in
co-ordination with the sighted.
Mr. Sixsmith, District Inspector of the
Ministry of Health, dealt with the provisions
of the " Contributory Pensions Act, 1929,"
in reference to Widows, Share Fishermen,
and Manual Labour Contractors.
Miss Blackstock, who had given the three
Courses of Cookery Lessons conducted by the
Manchester Education Committee, addressed
the Conference on " Cookery for the Blind,"
and explained how difficulties due to absence
of sight were overcome by stressing the
touch, smell, sound, or taste of materials.
She said that as a result of her experience
she had come to the conclusion that steaming
was the most useful method of cooking
for the blind, and an electric stove the best
and safest appliance.
Mr. Grant, National League of the Blind,
spoke on the development of the Safety
First Movement, and the use of White
Sticks, and Mr. Ridgeway of Henshaw's
Institution on the exhibition of furniture,
made by the blind, and the possibilities of
the new industry in relation to home workers.
A full report of this Conference may be
obtained on application to the Secretary,
Northern Counties Association for the Blind,
274, Deansgate, Manchester.
South Eastern and London Counties
Association for the Blind.
The Portsmouth Voluntary Association for
the Blind publishes its Fifth Annual Report,
telling of steady development in all branches
of its work. The City Council has extended
its beautiful workshop at Cosham and is
planning a hostel for trainees from neigh-
bouring areas. The City Council and the
Association together are about to erect a
Home for Aged and Infirm, for which the
Association already has a fund. The
Association has appointed a fourth Home
Teacher ; it has inaugurated a Braille class
and swimming classes ; it has increased its
collections and so been able to spend more
in special grants of relief ; and it keeps the
citizens of Portsmouth interested in its
work. The City Council continues to make
up the incomes of the necessitous unemploy-
able blind to £1 a week, and the Association
continues to administer this grant. The
PAGE
297
-mediae
BEACON
Portsmouth Brotherhood continues to pro-
vide all sorts of social opportunities at its
Institute for the Blind, which is open nightly.
The Association is a triumph of organisation.
The Middlesex Association for the Blind
publishes its Ninth Annual Report. This
Association cares for the blind people of
Middlesex with efficiency and sympathy,
and does valuable work for the prevention
of blindness. The report explains its duties
and its methods, and tells the public what
kind of support it needs from it. The work
in its many branches goes steadily on.
An eighth Home Teacher has been appointed.
Sales of Pastime Handicrafts dispose of the
bulk of the work of the unemployable blind,
the proceeds going intact to the workers.
A seventh Social Centre has been formed.
The Middlesex County Council now raises
the incomes of the unemployable blind to
27s. 6d. a week (that of blind married
couples to 42s.), and helps certain workshop
employees and home workers who would
otherwise be worse off than that. It also
provides convalescent treatment, and dental,
medical, and surgical appliances to the
necessitous. The Association dispenses
Public Assistance to the sighted dependants
of blind persons. Each unemployable person
who wants wireless and has normal hearing,
has his set. The report should appeal
to all Middlesex readers. Copies of the
report can be obtained from the Secretary,
at 66, Victoria Street, S.W. 1.
The Metropolitan Society for the Blind
which undertakes the great task of caring
for the blind in the City and County of
London, publishes its Second Annual Report,
recording development of its casework
through the four branches formed in 1929
and 1930, and the establishment of an
organiser of pastime occupations. The
Society is passing through a period of financial
stringency which has necessitated a tem-
porary reduction of the help given. Stricter
certification of blindness has been introduced
and a review of the present register is in
progress. The Society has undertaken
during the year the added burden of the
care of blind persons passed over from the
Poor Law, under the Local Government
Act, 1929. The supply of wireless sets
to the blind of London progresses, but awaits
voluntary help with installation and main-
tenance to complete it. Copies of the report
can be obtained from the Organising Secre-
tary at 63, Denison House, Vauxhall Bridge
Road, S.W. 1.
ANNOUNQMNIS
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE BLIND
NEW PUBLICATIONS
MUSIC.
The prices of the following pieces of music are subject
to a reduction of three-quarters for the blind resident
in the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
The minimum price is 6d. per copy.
5. d.
CHURCH—
11.137 Handel. Pour forth no more unheeded
pray'rs, Bass Recit. and Air from
" Jephtha," F; A— E1 flat.. .. 20
ORGAN—
11.138 Martini. Gavotte in F (arr. by W. J.
Westbrook) 20
11.139 Mendelssohn. Andante, from Sonata
in B flat, for Violoncello and Piano
(arr. by W. T. Best) 20
11.140 Rowley, Alex. Benedictus .. ..20
ii 141 Wolstenholme, W. Prelude in C .. 20
PIANO—
11.142 Archer, J. Stuart. Study in the Style
of Scarlatti 20
11.143 Carroll, Walter (arr. by). First Lessons
in Bach, Book 11 30
11.144 Coates, Eric. From Meadow to May-
fair (Suite of Three Pieces) . . ..30
11.145 Delius, Frederick. Air and Dance (arr.
by E. Fenby) 20
11.146 Falla, Manuel de. Danse Finale (from
" The Three-Cornered Hat ") ..20
11.147 Greenhill, Harold. A Country Holiday
(Six Descriptive Pieces) . . ..20
11.148 Handel. The Harmonious Blacksmith . . 2 o
11.149 Peterson-Berger, \V. Four Dance
Poems 20
11.150 Templeton, Alec. Toccata .. ..20
DANCE—
11 151 Gottler, A, and Nicholls, H. Time
Alone Will Tell, Song Fox-Trot ..20
11.152 Noble, Campbell and Connelly. I found
You, Song Fox-Trot 20
11.153 Rose, Vincent. Pardon Me, Pretty
Baby (from " On With the Show "),
Song Fox-Trot 20
11.154 Stolz, R. My Sunshine is You, Song
Fox-Trot 20
SONGS—
1 1. 155 Burleigh, H. T. (arr. by). Were You
There ? (Negro Spiritual), F ; C— Fl 2 o
11.156 Gibbs, Armstrong. Neglected Moon!
(from " Midsummer Madness "), E
flat; E— A1 20
11 157 Grover J. M. The Street Singer, E
flat; E— E1 20
11 158 Henschel, George. O if You Come
Along With Me, C ; C— E1 . . ..20
11,159 Robinson, Avery (arr. by). Water Boy
(Negro Convict Song), G ; B,— E1.. 2 o
11 160 Rowley, Alec. Prettv Betty, D flat;
D— E1 20
11 161 Thayer, P. I Travel the Road, E flat ;
Bx— E1 20
11 162 Wilson, H. Lane (arr. bv). My Lovely
Celia, E ; B,— E1 20
PAGE
298
BEACON
11,163 Wolf, Hugo. Gebet and Anakreons
Grab, High Voice ; D— G1 . . ..20
MOON BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
The following works have been published during the
month : —
3,110-3,115 The Master of Ballantrae, by
Robert Louis Stevenson, 6 vols,
(limited Edition) .. per vol. 12 o
3,116-3,122 The Wild Geese, by Stanley J.
Weyman, 7 vols, (limited Edition),
per vol. . . . . • • ..120
3,039 Things to Live For, by J. R. Miller,
Vol. 5 (Devotional Periodical) . . 36
(British Readers, 2s. 3d.).
Accident, by Albert Jean . . . . ..10
Diamonds, by Claude Orval . . . . 16
In a Barn, by J. Jefferson Farjeon . . 10
The Man With a Hobby, by J. D.
Beresford . . . - . • ..16
The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, by
Margaret Ferguson . . . . ..20
Mr. Paul, by Mrs. Reginald Fellowes .. 2 0
3.M6
3.147
3.148
3.M9
3.150
3,i5i
BRAILLE BOOKS.
The prices of the following publications are subject
to a reduction of two-thirds for the blind resident in
the British Isles and throughout the British Empire.
per vol.
s. d.
10,857-10860 Ancestor Jorico, by William J.
Locke. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 4 vols. F.215 5 6
*Gems of English Verse. Compiled
by M. Partington. Edited by H. M.
Spink, M.A., B.Sc. Intermediate
size, Interlined, Stiff Covers.
Book 1. Graduated Braille. B.68 . . 70
109,65 Book 2. Graduated Braille,
2 vols. B.72 . . . . . . ..40
Book 3. Graduated Braille. B.67 . . 70
10,968 Book 4. Graduated Braille,
2 vols. B.93 . . . . . . • • 5 3
10,970 Book 5. Graduated Braille,
2 vols. B.90 . . . . . . ..50
10,972 Book 6. Grade 2, 2 vols. B.112 6 o
10,974 Book 7. Grade 2, 2 vols. B.127 6 9
♦14 lines per Intermediate Plate.
34 Characters per line. Size of char-
acter unchanged.
10,772 Good Wives, by Louisa M.
Alcott. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 4 vols. F.217 5 6
10,777 Lake of Wine, The, by Bernard
Capes. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 5 vols. F.277 5 9
10,756 Lettres de Mon Moulin, by
Alphonse Daudet. Grade 1, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers,
3 vols. F.162 . . . . ..56
10,722 Lunatic at Large, The, by J.
Storer Houston. Grade 2, Large
size, Interpointed, Paper Covers,
2 vols. F.i 26 . . . . ..63
10,780 Money Moon, The, by Jeffery
Farnol. Grade 2, Large size, Inter-
pointed, Paper Covers, 3 vols. F.144 5 o
10,727 Sack and Sugar, by Mrs. Alfred
Sidgwick. Grade 2, Large size, In-
10,963
10,964-
10,966
10,967-
10,969-
10,971-
io,973-
10,769-
io,773-
10,754-
10,721-
10,778-
10,725-
terpointed, Paper Covers, 3 vols.
F.169 5 9
10,781-10,784 Three Black Pennys, The, by
Joseph Hergesheimer. Grade 2,
Large size, Interpointed, Paper
Covers, 4 vols. F.229 . . • ■ 5 9
NEW EDITION OF THE " BRAILLE PRIMER."
The new edition of the " Braille Primer," Grade 2,
which includes Grade 1, is now ready for sale, and
supplies can be obtained in the usual way. The price
has been fixed at 1/6 per copy, post free.
IMPORTANT TO ALL LANGUAGE STUDENTS AND
WIRELESS LISTENERS.
The National Institute for the Blind will publish
on 1st January, a Braille Edition of " Le Pavilion
sur l'Eau " and " Le Nid de Rossignols," by Theophile
Gautier (in French). These stories are being used as
Exercises in the French Language Talks, which will
be broadcast by Monsieur E. M. Stephan, on Tuesdays
(6.50 p.m. — 7.20 p.m.) in the National Programme,
from January to March, 1932. This book, apart from
its intrinsic interest, will, therefore, be useful to Braille
readers who are following the French Language Talks.
It will be in pocket size, and will probably cost is. net.
Orders for the book should be sent to the National
Institute now, so that there is no delay in delivery.
It is hoped that all wireless listeners will support
this first attempt of the Institute to provide them
with Braille literature to accompany wireless talks,
as, if the demand is extensive, Braille editions of
selected B.B.C. pamphlets and similar literary
matter will be put in hand at once.
FREE WOODWORK PUZZLES FOR THE BLIND-
Through the kindness of Dr. Alexander, of Teddmg-
ton, the National Institute for the Blind has received
for free distribution to schools and individuals (schools
being given preference) a number of woodwork puzzles,
of two types (Maltese Cross and Square) . Applications
for the puzzles should be made as soon as possible
to the National Institute for the Blind, 224, Great
Portland Street, W. 1, and all requests will be dealt
with in strict rotation.
Dr. Alexander has had reprints made of the directions
for making the puzzles, and sighted persons willing
to help him in the work by cutting out the puzzles
are asked to communicate with him at his own address,
Bankside, Ferry Road, Teddington, Middlesex.
NATIONAL INSTITUTE STUDENTS LIBRARY.
ADDITIONS.
BIOGRAPHY. Vols.
Oueen Caroline, by Sir E. Perry . . . . . . 5
ENGLISH LITERATURE.
Browne, Sir T. Urn Burial . . . . . . 1
Dobree, B. Restoration Tragedy . . . . 2
Galsworthy, J. Creation of Character in Litera-
ture, and Belloc, H. On Translation. . 1
Harrison, F. Studies in Early Victorian Litera-
ture . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Squire, J. C. Essays on Poetry . . . . . . 3
ESSAYS AND BELLES LETTRES.
Benson, A. C. Essays of To-day and Yesterday 1
Hazlitt, W. Table talk 6
Lynd, R. Art of Letters . . . . . . . . 3
HISTORY.
Ashton, Sir G. The Great War, 1914-1918
Pullan, L. From Justinian to Luther . .
Trevelyan, G. M. Garibaldi and the Making
of Italv
MODERN LANGUAGES.
Milne, J. M. Advanced Tests in French
Moliere ; L' Amour Medicin and Le Sicilien
PAGE
299
BEACON
MISCELLANEOUS.
Squire, C. Celtic Myth and Legend . . . . 5
THEOLOGY AND RELIGIONS.
Carpenter, J. Estlin ; Johannine Writings .. 8
Moffat, J. Everyman's Life of Jesus . . . . ,
Relton. H. M. Study in Caristology . . . . 4
NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR THE BLIND.
ADDITIONS— NOVEMBER, 1931.
Vols.
FICTION.
Arnim, Countess von. Father . . . . . . 6
Bell, Adrian. Corduroy . . . . . . . . 4
Benson, R. H. Conventionalists . . . . 4
Benson, Theodora. Glass Houses . . . . 3
Bowen, Elizabeth. Friends and Relations . . 3
Candler, E. Dinosaur's Egg . . . . . . 4
Charlton, Moyra (with preface by Lord Lonsdale)
Tally-Ho ! 1
Clouston, J. Storer. Colonel Dam . . . . 3
Connington, J. J. Two Ticket Puzzle . . . . 4
Cran, Marian. Lusty Pal . . . . . . 3
Crespigny, Mrs. de. Missing Piece . . . . 4
Cullum, Ridgewell. Treasure of Big Waters . . 6
Dilnot, G. Black Ace 4
Dudenev, Mrs. Henry. House in the High
Street 4
France, Anatole. Mother of Pearl . . . . 3
Frankau, Gilbert. Martin Make-Believe . . 8
Garnett, D. Grasshoppers Come . . . . 2
Garvice, C. For Her Only . . . . . . 4
Glaspell, Susan. Ambrose Holt and Family . . 3
Klickmann, Flora. Visitors at the Flower-Patch 3
Lowndes, Mrs. Belloc. The Lodger . . . . 4
Mackail, D. Young Livingstones . . . . 5
Neumann, A. The Patriot . . . . . . 1
Onions, O. In Accordance with the Evidence . . 3
Oppenheim, E. P. Game of Liberty . . . . 3
Riley, W. Garden of Delight 3
Rice, Alice Hegan. The Buffer 4
Rinehart, Mary R. The Door . . . . . . 5
Sackville-West, V. The Edwardians . . . . 5
" Sapper." Finger of Fate . . . . . . 4
Smollett, T. Expedition of Humplrry Clinker
(E. W. Austin Memorial) . . . . . . 7
Somerville, E. CE. and M. Ross. Mount Music 5
Syrett, Netta. Portrait of a Rebel . . . . 5
Thompson, Sylvia. Chariot Wheels . . . . 4
Tomlinson, H. M. All Our Yesterdays. . ■ • 4
Wallace, Edgar. The Forger 4
Webling, Peggy. Amber Merchant . . . . 5
MISCELLANEOUS.
Clarke, T. My Northcliffe Diary . . . . 4
Dobson, Rev. C. C. Empty Tomb and the
Risen Lord . . . . . . . . . - 2
Earp, F. R. Way of the Greeks (E. W. Austin
Memorial) . . . . . . . . . . 4
Ford, Rev. G. P. What is Religion ? . . . . 1
Harris, Frank. On the Trail ; My Adventures
as a Cowboy . . . . . . . . . . 3
Hume, Martin. Great Lord Burghley (William
Cecil) (E. W. Austin Memorial) . . . . 9
Kemp, E. G. Mary, with Her Son Jesus . . 1
Meschler, M. S. J. Life of Our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of God 24
Moulton, J. H. From Egyptian Rubbish- _ \
Heaps . . . . . . - . . . • • 2
Royden, A. Maude. I Believe in God . . . . 4
Science and Religion. A Symposium . . . . 3
Taylor, A. E. Problem of Evil . . . . . . 1
JUVENILE.
Uncle Peter's " Book of Puzzles," taken from his
Children's Hour in the Evening News . . 1
GRADE I.
Lang, J. (Told to the Children by). Gulliver's
Travels . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Vols.
Reed, T. B. The School Ghost a
GRADE III.
Caine, Hall. Prodigal Son 6
ESPERANTO.
Karinthy, F. Norda Vento . . . . . . 2
Patroj from " Misna'o " .. .. .. .. 1
MOON.
Hutten, Baroness von. Pam's Own Story . . 6
PRESENTED TO THE NATIONAL LIBRARY FOR
THE BLIND BY THE GIRL GUIDES ASSOCIA-
TION. Vols.
Baden Powell, Sir R. Girl Guiding . . . . 2
Foxlease, the Home of Guiding . . . . . . 1
Girl Guide Hymns and Tunes . . . . . . 1
Hann, Mrs. A. C. Osborn. Guider . . . . 1
Hann, Mrs. A. C. Osborn. Rhoda the Rebel . . 2
Lane, M. Stuart. Camp Fire Yarns . . . . 4
Lane, M. Stuart. More Camp Fire Yarns . . 8
Lay, J. S. Citizenship . . . . . . . . 6
Phillips, Hon. R. E. Patrol System for Guides 1
Rich, E. Gile. Why So Stories 2
Tyacke, R. & E. Book of Service . . . . 2
Wade, E. K. Piper of Pax ; Life Storv of Sir
R. Baden Powell . . 3
Whelpton, N., and E. Streatfield. Rangers . . 1
Woodward, Marcus. Camp Fire Nature Yarns 2
ADVERTISEMENTS
WANTED.— By sighted man (age 37). Position as
TEACHER and VISITOR for the Blind ; preparing for
next Home Teachers' Examination. E. Williamson,
15, Lemon Street, Halifax.
WANTED.— Certificated LADY HOME TEACHER
(sighted). Salary, ^156 per annum. Apply, giving
copies of two recent testimonials and stating age,
qualifications, and experience to the Secretary, Boston
and Holland Blind Society, Pen Street, Boston.
WANTED.— Fully qualified BLIND HOME TEACHER
and VISITOR for Plymouth City Area. Salary.
Plymouth City Area rate. Applications stating age,
experience, and enclosing references, to be forwarded
to the Superintendent, South Devon and Cornwall
Institution for the Blind, North Hill, Plymouth.
EXPERIENCED HOME TEACHER (Honours in
Home Teachers' Examination) gives private lessons
in Braille, Moon, and handicrafts, and coaching
(personally or by correspondence) in professional
knowledge, for Home Teachers' Examination. Apply
XYZ., c/o The Editor, The New Beacon, 224, Great
Portland Street, London, W. 1.
BOLTON WORKSHOPS AND HOMES FOR THE
BLIND, MARSDEN ROAD, BOLTON.
WANTED. — Brush Foreman, with experience of
Blind Institution work. State age, experience and
salary required. Applications, together with three
testimonials, to be forwarded to the Superintendent,
not later than 22nd December, 1931, and endorsed
" Brush Foreman."
NORTH WALES
HOME TEACHING SOCIETY FOR THE BLIND.
{Registered under the Blind Persons Act, 1920.)
Applications are invited for the position of General
Secretary and Organiser (full time). Knowledge of
Welsh desirable.
Particulars of Salary and Duties may be obtained
before December 27th, 193 1, on written application to
The Chairman, Greenwich House, Bangor, Caernarvon-
shire.
Printed by Smith's Printing Co. (London and St. Albans), Ltd., 22-24, Fetter Lane, E.C.3
INDEX TO VOLUME XV. OF " THE NEW BEACON."
JANUARY 15th-DECEMBER 15th, 1931.
Page
Achievements of the Blind 46, 97, 120,
178, 198, 224, 247, 273, 293
Advertisements 24, 48, 76, 104, 128, 156,
180, 204, 228, 252, 276, 300
Advisory Committee on the Welfare
of the Blind, Ninth Report of . . 77
Announcements 23, 47, 74, 102, 125,
155, 179, 202, 226, 251, 275, 298
Are the Blind Exploited, Victimised,
or Taken Advantage of ? (J. H. W
Porter)
White Sticks for the Blind (J.
Allcock)
William Wolstenholme (H. C.
Wanilow)
2] I
Blind Actors in Three Plays
Blind Child, The (E. Walker Finlay)
Blind Musicians and Tuners Visit
France and Germany
Blind Teachers, Employment of 27,
Blind Woman Sees Europe, A
Braille English Dictionary
Braille Music Notation, French
Text -book on
Braille Music and the American
Influence (late E. Watson)
Certification of Blindness in Scot-
land, Medical
" Chronological Survey of Work for
the Blind "
Church as a Career for Blind Men,
The (Canon Bolam)
Clear Type, Reading Material in
(with Specimen)
College of Teachers of the Blind :
Examiners' Reports
Competitions for the Blind
Correspondence :
Allen, Dr. E. E. (R. Hallowell) . .
Are the Blind Exploited (Friend
of the Blind)
Blind Voters (Captain Fraser) . .
Deaf-Blind, The
B.B
Lee, Mrs. E. H. . . 95,
Middleton, G. B.
Simes, Graham
Strang, Miss J. M
Stuart, C.
Taylor, Mrs. E. M
Watton, Miss A. D
Dictionary in Braille (R. Phillips)
Esperanto Group (W. P. Merrick)
Evelyn's Diary (Canon Bolam) . .
Grade III Braille (W. M. Stone) . .
Helping Each Other (H. J. Wagg)
Holy Orders for Blind Men (late
W. H. Dixson)
Hospitals and Homes (William
Hooper)
Journalism and the Blind (P.
Keily)
Journalism and the Blind (Mrs.
Rawden)
Journalism and the Blind (J.
Alexander)
" Progress " and its Past (late
W. H. Dixson)
Unification of Collections (late G.
Pollard)
White Sticks for the Blind (B.
Grant)
90
154
129
(it;
260
119
107
266
294
219
110
IT.".
37
96
166
237
147
195
124
166
124
124
194
195
147
41
195
71
237
237
211
16
10
95
Dantzig Sweepstake, The . . . . 190
Deaf-Blind Child's Outlook, A . . 61
Denmark, Work for the Blind in . . 105
Diary of Events . .79, 111, 177, 230, 286
" Directory of Agencies and Year
Book " 294
Domestic Science Training for the
Blind (E. Evans) 277
Domestic Science Classes, Success of 279
Editorials :
Babv's Rights 115
Blind Citizens of the World .. 11
Buy British Blind-Made Goods ! . . 287
" Completely Fooled " . . . . 115
Consolidation — National and
Regional 191
Depression and Publicity . . 239
Educational Research . . . . 167
Educational Value of Wireless . . 89
Elective Council for the N.I.B., An 63
Hail, Columbia ! . . . . . . 63
Help the Sports Club . . . . 11
" In Excelsis " . . . . . . 287
New Fields to Conquer . . . . 35
Not Far Enough 263
Segregation of the Blind . . . . 239
Symbol of the Blind Pedestrian,
The 115
Very Real Need, A . . . . 263
Why Educate the Blind ? . . 263
Wireless and Adult Education . . 215
" Yes Sir, we had a good time! " 145
Education (Paper at N. Y. Conference
by Miss Garaway) . . . . 138
Educational Research in America . . 212
Egypt, Prevention of Blindness in 25
Employment (Paper at N.Y. Confer-
ence by S. Swift and U. Akiba) . . 141
Esperanto Congress, The (W. P.
Merrick) 216
Experiences of a Blind Traveller
(Rev. D. Griffiths) 8
Experiences of the Blind World
(E. Kessell) 264
Foreign News. . . . 7, 65, 109, 210
Fuchs, Ernst — A Great Pioneer . . 10
Gibraltar, The Blind of
Good Story, A
Griffith, Miss Kate . .
Guide-Dogs, The Value of
Home News
L90
222
99
155
5, 29, 64, 80, 108, 131,
159, 185, 209, 231, 256, 280
India, Prevention of Blindness in
(M. G. Thomas)
International Council for the Blind,
An 1
Irish Free State, The Blind in 43, 96
Johnston Resistive Exerciser, The . .
Journalism as a Profession for the
Blind— II (Captain J. H. W.
Porter)
Keeping the Blind Before the
Public, On
183
174
121
118
14
261
Local Government Act, 1929, The
Effect of (S. W. Starling) . . . . 181
Macgregor Prize, 1932 .. .. 291
Manchester and District Social Club
(A. M. Warren) 193
Massage and Medical Gymnastics,
Chartered Society of . . . . 246
Mr. and Mrs. Mather and their Good
Work at the West Indies (Dr.
E.E.Allen) 284
Mentally Retarded Children, School
for 214
Methods of Remuneration (B. Purse) 148,
173, 196, 220, 240, 267, 289
Milton's Blindness (Le Gros Clark) 112
Museum of Blindiana, Official Open-
ing of . . . . . . 162
Music in Institutions for the Blind,
Teaching of (Sinclair Logan) , . 253
Music Students' Competition . . 238
Musical Competition Festivals and
the Blind 73
National Institute for the Blind : —
Annual Report . . . . . . 271
Reconstitution of Council . . 186
Obituary : —
H.R.H. Princess Royal .. .. 13
Buchanan, Dr. Florence . . 94
Buchanan, George . . . . 45
Burton, J. J. 295
Buttars, A. 295
Dence, Rev. A. T 94
Dickie, George .. .. .. 113
Dixson, W. H 265
Dodd, Rev. A. P 13
Dow, Alexander . . . . . . 94
Fuchs, Ernst . . . . . . 10
Gardner, Charles . . . . . . 13
Graham, Dr. James • . . . 249
Henderson, C. G. . . . . 250
Holliday, Lucv .. .. .. 113
Holt, Roland ' 250
Jackson, Rev. W. H 294
Kennion, T. A. . . . . . . 250
King, Walker 177
Lee, Joseph H. . . . . . . 13
Racine, Dr. H 08
Rahn, Chief-Engineer . . . . 68
Richey, J. A 265
Russell, Mrs. West .. .. 13
Smith, Mrs. Annie . . . . 13
Warren, J. C 113
Watson, Edward .. .. •■ 150
Watson, Mary E. . . 94
Watson, William 13
Whall, John 177
Wilson, H. J 72
Wolstenholme, William . . 189
Young, John . . . . . . 45
On Being Blind (M. Paget) . . . . 42
Personalia : —
Abbotskerswell Home, Staff
Appointments . . . . . . 187
Bolam, Canon C. E 248
Carmichael, John . . . . . . 94
Coates, W. H 248
Cromwell, W. Nelson . . . . 222
Dowdell, Dr. E. G 28
Eckford, William . . . . 275
Evans, P. M 275
Farrell, Rev. Gabriel . . . . 222
Forsdyke, Major J. M 28
Heaton, J. B 28
Hovev, Miss D 94
Hurst, Sir Gerald 28
Kitchin, A. J. W. . . . - 275
Lee, Thomas 71
Merridan, W. J 28
Moore, Cyril . . . . . . 94
Mowatt, G. F 275
N.I.B., New Members of Sub-
Committees . . . . . . 187
Nicholson, Mrs. A. . . 94
O'Dwyer, Sir Michael . . . . 275
Paget, Sir Richard . . . . 28
Paris, Major J. G. . . . . 275
Robinson, Captain . . . . 248
Sanderson Lord . . . . . . 71
Scottish Advisory Committee,
Members of 187
Towse, Captain Sir Beachcroft.. 275
Wagg, H.J 275
Whitfield, Dr. E 275
Philanthropist, A Blind . . . . 99
Points from the Press . . 22, 114
Portuguese School, A . . . . 236
" Progress," Jubilee of . . . . 217
Public Speaking for the Blind (S.
Wicks) . . 157
Puzzles for the Blind 245
Radio Adoption Scheme . . 38, 125
Reading Competition, National
Braille 38
Recent Publications : —
American Foundation Folders on
Education and Placement . . 68
Anecdotes, etc. (W. Sherman) .. Ill
" Blind Record " .. .. 88, 292
" Buy from the Blind " Catalogue 111
Darley Steps (C. R. Allen) . . 208
De Blinde Mens (Vos) . . . . 106
Future of Local Government, The
(Robson) 87
German Blind Association's Cata-
logue . . . . . . . . 292
Handbook on Work for the Blind
(Strehl) 88
Japan, Blind People in . . . . 292
London Association for the Blind,
Catalogue of 269
Memories (E. J. Sillett) . . 4
Memories of Sixty Years (Sander-
son) . . . . . . . . 33
• Moods and Melodies (Ben Purse) . . 262
Moon Made Easy (H. Bradfield) . . 45
Museums and the Blind (N.I.B.
Bulletin) 245
Out of the Night (Herts Society
for the Blind) 4
Seeing Europe through Sightless
Eyes (Adams) 119
Sight Saving Review . . . . 88
S.P.C.K. Braille Books . . . . 247
Talking Gloves (Clark) . . . . 192
Remarkable Library, A (Perkins
Institution) . . . . . . 60
Reviews of Reports : —
Aberdeen Association . . . . 274
Association of Certificated Blind
Masseurs 202
Association of Workshops for the
Blind 201
Australia : Royal Institution, N.
Adelaide 100
Sydney Industrial Blind Insti-
tute 101
Victorian Association of Braille
Writers, South Yarra
Barclay Home & School, Biighton
Belfast Association
Belgium : Societe Royale de
Philanthropic de Bruxelles
Berkshire County Society
Bournemouth Blind Aid Society. .
British " Wireless for the Blind "
Fund
Buckinghamshire Association . .
Burma, Mission to the Blind of . .
Canadian N.I.B.
Cardiff Institute
Ceylon : Mount Lavinia School . .
China : Hill Murray Institute,
Peking
Hunan Blind Girls' School
College of Teachers
Dorset County Association
East Ham Welfare Association . .
East London Home and School . .
East Sussex Association
Edinburgh Society for Teaching
the Adult Blind
Essex County Association
Germany : Stuttgart Blind Insti-
tute '
Greater London Fund
Guernsey Association
Hampshire Association
Hastings Voluntary Association. .
Henshaw's Institution, Man-
chester . . . . . . 223
Hertfordshire Society
Holland : Ermelo Home. .
Incorporated Association for Pro-
moting the General Welfare of
the Blind
India : Central Provinces and
Behar Relief Association
Palamcottah School
Indigent Blind Visiting Society. .
Isle of Wight Society
Kent County Association
Leeds Incorporated Institution . .
Liverpool School for the Indigent
Blind 223,
London Society for Teaching and
Training the Blind
Manchester & Salford Blind Aid
Society
Metropolitan Society
Middlesex Association
National Baby Week Council . .
National Council for Maternity
and Child Wefare
National Deaf-Blind Helpers
League
National Institute for the Blind. .
National Institute for the Deaf . .
National Library for the Blind . .
National Library for the Blind
(Northern Branch)
Newcastle : Royal Victoria School
100,
Northern Counties Institute
North London Homes
Norwich Institution
Pearson's Fresh Air Fund
Portsmouth Voluntary Association
Royal Midland Institution, Not-
tingham . . . . . . 44,
Royal Sheffield Institution
Servers of the Blind League
Sheffield Welfare of the Blind
Dept
202
248
274
101
177
270
288
44
248
201
202
201
ITS
178
248
101
177
274
1 53
295
248
202
1 5;S
213
249
270
192
295
275
223
270
244
274
295
190
44
Page
South Africa : Worcester Deaf and
Blind Institute
South African Library, Grahams-
town
Soulhampton Association 101
Surrey Voluntary Association
Switzerland : Lausanne Asile des
Aveugles
Tasmanian Institution
Torr Home, Plymouth
Trinidad and Tobago Institute . .
Union of Counties Associations . .
U.S.A. : Cincinnati Library Society
Clovernook Home, Ohio
New York Association for the
Blind
New York Institute for the
Education of the Blind
Walsall Society
West Ham Association
West Sussex Association
Wolverhampton, Dudley and Dis-
tricts Institution
Workshop for the Blind, Green-
wich 101, 286
Revised Braille Music Notation
(April Inset).
Revised Braille Rules
Scholarships for the Blind, 1931
Scotland, Certification of Blindness
201
223
177
270
223
101
175
192
249
74
99
53
74
44
244
201
101
158
247
266
Scottish Advisory Committee's Sixth
Report
Sisterhood Meeting at the Queen's
Hall, Annual
Social Services (Paper at N.Y. Con-
ference by W. McG. Eagar)
Sports Club Rowing Regatta
State and Charitable Endowments,
The (B. Purse), Continued from
1930 . . . . 17, 39, 69
Sunshine House, East Grinstead,
The Opening of . . . . . . 146
Sunshine Trekkers, The . . . . 36
Supervision of Charities .. 85, 116
Technical Aids and Provisions (Paper
at N.Y. Conference by A.C. Ellis) 134
Unemployable Blind, The— II . . 12
Union of Counties Associations for
the Blind 20, 44, 74, 98, 122, 152
199, 243, 270, !
U.S.A. :—
American Braille Press
Blind Relief Laws in
Educational Research in..
Prevention of Blindness in
Remarkable Library, A . .
The Blind in (R. Irwin)
Watson, Edward — The Blind Musi-
cian's Friend (P. T. Mayhew)
Welfare of the Blind, Advisory
Committee's Report on . .
When Blindness Comes in Middle
Age (J. J. Culley)
When London had Sore Eyes (W.
G. Bell)
Wireless Discussion Groups and the
Blind (W. H. Coates)
Wireless for the Blind Fund, British
30, 143, 288
Wireless Listening Groups in the
Past, Present and Future. .
Wireless Receiving Apparatus, Main-
tenance of (E. J. Pyke)
Wolstenholme, William— 1865-1931
World Conference at New York 5
83, 134
Yugo-Slavia, Blind Farmers in . . 259
235
168
136
246
176,
202
54
212
56
60
49
150
77
225
188
205
233
229
53,
HV1950
33
The New Beacon
v. 15, 1931
C 1
Date Due
I
HV1950
B3
The New Beacon
c. 1
v. 15, 1931
TITLE
LOANED BORROWER'S r>
AME