Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 December 1901 — Fiddles Without Hands. [ARTICLE]

Fiddles Without Hands.

In Atlanta, a small town in Dlinois, lives Frank Clawson, a fiddler whose chief bid for fame lies in the fact that he is without hands. Several years ago he was caught in a blizzard, and both hands were so badly frozen that they were amputated at the wrist. Being somewhat of a mechanical genius, he evolved a contrivance out of heavy wire which enabled him to wield the bow. The matter of fingering was more difficult, but by hard practice he trained the stump of his left hand to make the necessary shifts from one string to another and from position to position. With the fiddle held in place by his chin and knees and with the help of his fingerless arms Clawson manages to play the old time airs with nearly as j.iueh success as formerly.