Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 31, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 August 1896 — Vast Strength in His Arms. [ARTICLE]

Vast Strength in His Arms.

It is a well-known fact that nature makes partial amends for the loss of one faculty by strengthening those left to us. The loss of sight is followed by an extraordinary acuteness of the sense of sound. There are several blind men well known about New Y™ :k who thread the crowded sections ol* Broadway with apparently as much ease ns those who can see. They go about fearlessly, Ignoring the dangers of cable cars, trucks and trolleys without even the assistance of the traditional dog, trusting wholly In the sound of the staff on the pavement. There Is a cripple who haunts the vicinity of Seventy-first street and First avenue, propelling himself on a crude little hoard on wheels by means of his hands. His withered limbs are twisted up beneath him, useless from birth. But his powerful arms take the place of both legs and feet. He can roll along through the crowded thoroughfares, across the streets, and dodge the trucks aud trams with astonishing celerity and certainty. He is known to the entire neighborhood, and he is practically the boss of the ward. People seem to have much respect for his judgment on their various affairs, and he is consulted as often as a Tammany leader. Sometimes the street urchins attempt to take liberties with him. They never do It twice. He has a way of suddenly hopping off his board on his hands, with a leap like that oT a kangaroo, and grabbing a boy by the leg and shaking all the courage out of him, which has earned him the respect of the knowing ones.

He can whip a man. twice his size and weight. All he wants is to get his enemy within reach, and it is done. Being high strung and quick tempered, his fighting qualities have been frequently tested. The young roughs of the neighborhood are in deadly fear of those arms. There is not much sympathy wasted on that cripple, you may readily imagine.—New York Herald.