Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 February 1917 — Americans Working for French Blind Soldiers [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Americans Working for French Blind Soldiers

Devoted men and women from the United States teach warriors who have lost their sight certain vocations by which they can earn a living a

By DOROTHY CANFIELD FISHER.

All TIME Paris is full of flnvil big new street signs, ,mW / flag s u rmnji n ted^nn- \ wd jMMI nouncing in very large iplryYx letters the existence of gjpQc*-) war philanthropies of one kind I another f*>r the relief of- those stricken by the disasters of this disastrous age. No signs are bigger, none have larger letters than those i surmounted by the crossed flags of France and the United States which announce that a Franco-Ameri-can committee is at work there. - And yet one of the most interesting, unique and valuable of these fine American philanthropies has no big sign, no large letters and is so little known in America that I am sure a description of its work will he news to most Americans, and very good news at that- This fs the Phare de France (the French Idghthou.se for the Blind). It is supported by the Franeo-American Committee for Men Blinded in Battle, and is under_lhe direction of-Miss-Wlnlfrcd Holt, whose years of work at the American Light—bouse for-tlie _Blind in New York lms - so marvelously transformed life for the blind of that city, v- She has been in France for a littte more than a year, throwing herself Into work for men blinded in battle with tfce same tremendous energy and Indomitable perseverance which has accomplished so much for the blind in America. The French Lighthouse Is the result of that year’s activity. ln£o Quiet Courtyard. Imagine that you are now about to visit that institution under the guid•'tmee- of one of the volunteer workers, perhaps that charming young granddaughter of our President Grant, to whom is often assigned the task of showing visitors about. You_ring_atNo. 14 on the Jtue Daru, the quiet old street of the Russian church, with its gold-tipped domes.

The heavy door swings open, you step into a large, peaceful, stone-paved courtward. with a handsome old palace facing you, at -the top of a flight of broad step?. A’soldier or an officer in a natty uniform is probably either going nimbly up of coming confidently down those steps, swinging a light ..'bamboo cane. Ills alert, upright bearing give you no hint of his blindness. If you fallow him as he turns to his left, you find yourself in a well equipped gymnasium for the blind, which is, so your guide tells you. the only thing of the sort in France. Your blind soldier (who is enjoying a rest between lessons) stoops, puts on a pair of roller skates, and is off in a dashing swoop about the polished nasium floor. His face is soon tingling and plowing with the exercise, the strong rhythmic swing of. lus—lmd-y +s-~exhil-arating to witness. Your gilide murmurs that four months ago that man _W as in hospital, n lone., sick, ntterlydiscouraged, life a black abyss of despair before him. Here is oae of ~-tfte achievements of The French Lighthouse. ’ " ■ V “Hut is he really blind?” you ask4tfccredulously. “How can he have won back that fine physical poise, that splendid confidence in his body which means so much for seeing people and which we never associate with the blind V America's Great Gift. “Ah, that is the special secret of this American institution, the es]>ecial gift of America to the French blind. Our blind soldier, his interval of recreation gone by. has slipped off his roller skates and stepped quickly into a nearby room. His blindness only revealed by a flourish of his light cane to make sure of the position of the door. /=/ die has. gone to take a lesson in massage, which is one of the most profitable means of livelihood open to jmen without eyes. Like nli liis-fel-. "lows in the Phare; he takes very sliifcr lessons; "with frequent recreation and change of occupation, because war blindness means nearly •always bead wounds and head wounds mean a brain that must not he overtaxed. We leave him to his study of the .skeleton, the idg plaster casts of muscular arms and legs, and to his expert teacher; while we turn so other things. Our guide tabes us back through the

shower hath room and pauses proudly; If you art- an American you probably look blank. Shower ,bnths .are not such uncommon objects, as all that. Oh, but they are, she tells you, in France, for the hTind ! So uncommon, injfact, that only at the Phare you are visiting can blind men, after exercising, have the stimulating tonic of showering water, which helps so much to tone up the system shattered by the nervous shock of wounds. This is one of the Americanisms of the Phare. Look at it respectfully. At the door of the court your guide hesitates between possibilities and then decides to-show yon the -printing" press in the big room above the gymI nasiuni. This Is an American tnai chine, the only electric press which prints books for the blind in France. By the time this article appears the first issue of a monthly magazine for the Wind will have been issued from this press.

Blind Editor Busy. The magazine is under the direction of a blind editor, who with a corps Of seeing—assistants —(volunteers)-. —wilt also, during the winter, arrange for the publication by this press of a sei ries of manuals in raised type, Which will help the blind In their re-educa-tion. You descend the stairs, glance in at tlfle gymnasium, where a couple of blind men are now fencing/ undty the Ca.eful direction of a teacher,, and your guide tells you that file teacher is perhaps the best-known master of arms in France. In spite of being mobilized, he manages to come three j times -a week To' give" himself to his | blind comrades. Yon cross the court to the room of the, handicrafts, Haj^-ywc-ga^sight* which. if you are inexperienced in what may he done for the blind, seem miraculous- to-ymr. Year see~ _ a TTnoarmod blind man who in five weeks has learned to manage a knitting machine so that he can earn a- good livi ing by knitting sweaters and bands. You see' another blind soldier with only one arm who is weaving successfully by means of a device of his own invention, which enables him to make one foot do the work of his missing hand. Y'ou see blind men weaving colored rugs with but-slightly more supervision than, is usually given to sighted weavers.- and others who are making lilet work. ——■ l /■' —; Then your guide steers you away and astonishes you by saying that you have not yet even set foot inside The main building proper. This main building is a beautiful old palace, belonging to the Vatican. The entrance hall is a nobly proportioned room, which serves as a general meeting place. You Are Astonished.” Here come AvlvS^^lsters/~~s~u-eet. hearts tqjiisit-tvith thf‘lr~pidO.; to hear of progress made, in re-education. to guide .the sightless heroes out for a walk in the pleasant paths of the nearby park. Through this room pass the' teachors of stcndgraphy*, typewriting, Braille reading and writing, clay modeling, who daily fill the rooms of tlie old palace with stielt useful industry as it can never have known before. Here the blind men

I us they step out of the dining room adjoining, pause for a moment to light their cigarettes and pull down their well-fitting uniforms, before they take their brisk way along the ingeniously placed paths of coca matting. Now you are to see the stenographic department. Everyone who uses a ■typewriter knows that the best work is done without 'looking at the keys; and tliis means that in typewriting the htind are perhaps more nearly on-a footing of equality with the seeing than in any other gainful occupation. Your guide (remember that she Is the granddaughter of our Genera) OrantT" stops ~T<r chat' tor a moment to one of the teachers In the stenograublc department. a tall, steadyeyed, extremely attractive American girl who is another gift of the American White House to the French blind. This is Miss Esther Cleveland, who is giving all her time to the work of ■ Miss Cleveland IS no amateur teacher of stenography. She lias mastered the entire Hraille system of instruction at tlie Pennsylvania Institute for the Blind and has been working for months in England. There are the dormitories (for this American institution is housing and feeding its men as well as re-educat-ing them), here are the bathrooms (strange innovation in this eighteenth ■century abode), there is the clinic room, where minor medical attention is-gi veil, where wounds are cared—forr antiseptic treatments carried on; as well as the other rooms already re--f er-fed-to: —-——— Keeping Men Cheerful. Tt is difficult to realizfi-Jthfi-flffact--reqwived <‘feaie and matrrtalnthe cheerful -atmosphere, of—the house., which means as much for the future, health of tlie men as does their careful technical re-education. Outside the classes, the institution is like a %-ell-ruu club. The president of the French republic has several times given his box to,,the blind men at the I'll are, and they often go out to the theater and tlie Opera Coifiique: Owners of automobiles send their cars to take tlie blind out for long, exhilarating drives. .V.T. ' The blind men have a club of their own where tliey discuss all manner of Topics and enjoy music ami recitations. Some of tlicfii go- for horseback rides in the Hois, uytl otlmrs, on. their vacations, have found theniselves so bene- 5 fltpA bv tlie toniii- liealtbgiving atmosphere of tlie Phare that they have been able joyfully to take up again mid delights of swimming and fishjug. And- all rills comes from Americf. Here is an Ainer can woman who..ha3 left a big' Ami¥n terpriso ami give 1 a solid year of her life to alleviating the misery-fFaused l>v the war im-wiich her country has officially twepart.' Here is a compnra-tiv.-ly small committee of American menand women who, without dipping into any of tlie funds raised by the great war-relief organizations, has keen able to raise money enough to start and carry on the work you have seen. «. . ■ r