OUR BLINDED SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 207, 27 May 1920, Page 5

OUR BLINDED SOLDIERS

the generous publio who form your readers I owe much for the- support they have given to St. Dunstan's —the hostel which I established just five years ago in London for the cars and training of the soldiers who lost their sight 'in the waT. I 'think everyone knows now what heroic effort tho men. have, made to overcome 'their handicap; the nnluzing 'triumph which lim been theirs in the class-rooms and woi'k-. 'shops of St; Dunstan's'; yes. 'and how in their leisure time they nave taken delight in dancing and rowing—all kinds of recreation's at which tlioy could excel—getting as close back to normal life as .possible. Impressivo as that feet is, the' sequel • is more so. More than a thousand of these men have eompletcd their, train- > ins, linvo been set up in eome occupation they have iitdslered. Ahlong these are a considerable number of New 'Zflilariders. Tragedy is 'inseparable from tho word blindnes'3-but they have given 'to this word a new meaning—they have turned it into a distinction conveying the idea of great-hearted courage, of infinite resource, of suoh accotnplisliinent as other men may wonder at. They liav'e made the appellation "blind" a murk of achievement. So long after-the termination of hostilities, it might be thought that tho work of St. Diufetatfs was Hearing an end. <nMay I tell your readers that more than over now I need their support? . - •,-,.. With some five-hundred blind mon in 'training the-hostel is almost ios crowded [as over. And on ,tho -heels of tho men blinded on the battlefields aro coming to us those others whom blindness: -has overtaken gradually (i&OOO men wero discharged from the Army with -serious-, lv -damaged eyesight), and it is impossible- to gauge how great tho demrnid on our resources will bo or how long continued. But apart from this tra'gio fnctwo aro dealing now, with an. exceptionally largo number of 'difficult cases. Tho men who wero physically fit passed through their course of re-education in nil astonishingly short tiinbj others cannot.- They need tho most careful individual attention, and though they will win out in tho ohd, their training must go slowly. Wo aru liamnered, too, by tho difficulty of getting suitable shops and 6ihall poultry fa.rmß for the men who havo completed their training, and who muSt, therefore, remain lit St. Dunstan's instead of making rooni -for others. Wo have convalescent and rest homea In tho country «nd by th§ sea to maintain, for tho use of those Winded

soldiers who want change-~ and specialcare. Meanwhile tho organisation, for tha after-care of the men who have left St. Dunstan's is rapidly becoming our chief concern. Because they are doing so wonderfully well is exactly t«e reason, why 'nothingmust lie neglected to keep up their spirits, to watch over their work 'that it does not unconsciously deteriorate, to see that they get the best materials and ihe best markets, to keep alive that bond of fraternity which had its beginning at St. Dunstan's. With this big programme, before us wo'have to face the fact that the cost of everything is still going up by leaps end bounds. We are not going to do things less well : than before for our bravo blinded soldiers, and ther'efora our expenses must bo greater. When you think of these men living and working in perpetual darkness you will feel that money which can bring into their lives internal sunshine is money with a power for good that Bioncy seldom has. Contributions to St. Dunstan's sent dilect, or through this journal, will ba most gratefully acknowledged.—l am, etc, ARTHUR PEARSON, ■ . Cnairman Blinded Soldiers and Sailors'" Care .Committee, St. Dunstar's, Regent's Park, Loudon, N.W.I, England.