Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 November 1875 — A Remarkable Blind Woman. [ARTICLE]

A Remarkable Blind Woman.

, Blind people can be taught to perform some kinds of work as well—even better —than those who have their sight. The. probable reason of their excelling in things which they are able to do is because they have few things to do, and so, of course, can spend more time on them. But there are blind people who can do so many things that it is hard to think what kind of work they can't do. During the past week it was the fortune of tlie reporter to come into the sphere of one such person, a woman, whose accomplishments -—practical accomplishments—are almost inconceivable, and certainly very creditable. Toward the upper end of Fourth avenue, with an acquaintance of the woman in question, the reporter hied, determined to see for himself what had been told concerning her. She keeps a store at 195 Fourth avenue. The store-room is not of a very commanding appearance, but it is the very essence of neatness. It is small —very small —and here this blind - woman deals out goods to her customers. ■She sells all kinds of cake, candies, notions, etc. A customer came in while the reporter was there and made known what was desired. Away she flew to where the article was—for she has a regular place for everything she sells and can lay her hand on the right article without hesitation. She then weighed out the amount desired and took the money. It was all right—the exact amount. Another customer comes in and buys five cents’ worth of candy and hands her a quarter. Twenty cents are handed back without hesitation. On inquiring how she could tell the amount of money handed to her, she said she could tell the ucoin by feeling the size of it, and in the .same way she could tell the denomination of the fractional currency. As to bills, she was unable to tell their denomination, as they were all the same size and no difference in the paper. When money of the latter description was handed her-—w hen the purchaser was a stranger and so, of course, could not be trusted—She would show the bill to some friend to find its value. Her money-drawer is subdivided into compartments, and in each compartment one denomination of money is kept, by which mode of arrangement she can quickly make change. People do not try to cheat her, and if they would do so it is highly probable that they woufir most signally fail. To see the way she handles the money and hands out the articles, a stranger would hardly know but that she could sec, and, it is probable, would hot lielieve it was,so upon first being told the fact.

To prevent thieves from reaching and appropriating articles right before her eyes, tire greater part of the goods are kept on shelves back of the counter, against the wait Some more are in° the showcase and others occupy a position on thecounter, but are protectedfrom the snatching thief by a wire netting. Not a single thing can be touched without coming over In the purchasing of her stock she seldom gefcUrhposed upon. The goods are broughtdo her door, and when she buys a certain number of pounds of anything she weighs it on her scales before taking it. In other purchases she can tell by the'feel whether the thing is just what it is represented to be or not. If she should happen to be imposed upon by the seller, it would be a useless .waste of time for him to come to. sell to her again. Even-thing about the store is attended to by her. .'she sweeps, dusts, takes down the jars ot candy, washes the shelves and replaces *the jars in their proper positions, etc., etc. ♦Outside of the regular store work she is able to cut out, without a pattern, a dress and sew it all herself. To j thread the needle she uses her tongue. One dress which she had just completed was shown and for neatness of finish it could not be •excelled. Every button was in its proper position, right opposite the button-hoies. Bead-work seems to be her great forte, however. She makes bead flags, bead chains, houses, cradles, and, in fact,

almost everything you can think of. She said she had taken prizes at several fairs for this kind of work, She had thought of sending some specimens to the Exposition, but when she had exhibited at fain before'people would come around, admire the work, be astonished, and then as was natural would pity tlie worker of "them, the latter talk being very grating to her nature. She attended for some*>time the Philadelphia Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, and it was there that she learned her accomplishments. For excellency in fancy work she was awarded a silver medal while a scholar at the above institution. On it was inscribed, on one side: “To Mary Quinliven, for fancy W'*k, June 29 1864,” and on the other:. “Reward of Merit,” and around the edge* the name of the institution. A year ago she started the store, not knowing any. thing about business. Her friends thought she could not succeed, and tried to dissuade her from her purpose; but she was possessed of an independent spirit and desired to earn her own llting, feeling too much honest pride >bont Bung on her friends, although they were periectly willing that she should do so. She has overcome all the difficulties of store-keep-ing. and is getting alongvefysucccssfuliy. During all the time that she has been following her business she has not been absent from tire store a single night. She is very independent und extremely sensitive about being pitied. When talking of how she has succeeded in her business, she says she feels very well satisfied with her success, but if she conld only see a little, just a very little, she would get along so much better; then it would be nothing to keep store. And such is the little blind woman and the work she is accomplishing.—Pittsburgh Leader.