BLINDED MAN'S ADDRESS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 202, 11 September 1937, Page 15

BLINDED MAN'S ADDRESS

Compensations For Loss Of Sight FACULTIES DEVELOPED Tlie vast difi'erence that lies between the man who was blinded duriug manhood and the man who was born blind,, was emphasiscd by Mr. An.drew Johnston, the noted evangelist, in an address at the Hastings Rotary Club yesterday. Mr. Johnston, who was blinded during the Great War, said that he was enabled to visualise things as he saw thein before losing his sight ( a faculty denied the person born blind. "When someone mentions a thing, say a table or a sunset, or trce-cladded hillside, it is natural for me to visualise such an object as I remembered seeing it," he said. "The past affords me a background, for my mental pictures. It must be much more .difficult for those who have never had their sight to form a picture. "With this advantage I a'm able to develop faculties upon what I have seen in the past, but faeulties will not develop if one does not exercise the mind and move about on one's own. It did not take me long to realise (iliat if I tried to use the faculties that .were latent they could be developed very rapidly. ' ' Mr Johnston mentionecl that at first he thought it would be impossible to learn Braille, but within a week he found that the first finger of his right hand .developed a feeling or "sight" more than any other llnger. Recently - he had cut this finger and without its service he was made aware of just how much he was .dependent upon it for liis reading. Mr. Johnston mentloned that when first moving about on his own he ran Lnto obstructions, but a few bumps quickly made one careful. Now he was able to walk down a street and keep two f cot away from the wall and be guided by instinct ana other faculties. The early morning was the best time, for oue relt xefreshed and betteri able to develop one's faculties. It was possible to "ieel" an obstructi.on somje feet away, and he did not think that} he would now run into a statiouary. ch|r for he would "feel" its presence a few yards away. As indicating just how seusitive and how much the olind relied upon this "feeling" was indicated by the fact that it was possible for him to move just as freely round a strange rooxn, as the majority of sighted people, bu,t blindfold those" sighted people and he would move much more rapidly round while they would not bo able to mo;ve more than a few fect without bumping into something. 4 4 One of the faculties upon m ch I depend a great deai is thatof hearing," he said. "My heariug is much bette'r than it used to be, and I can even teU you certain machinery in u»t> by tho Bounds made. Every little sound uieans somethiug to. me now, wnorcas it did not before, as I reliod upon sight. ' ' The wind was a big faetor sometimes and could be a liin-drance, because it could shut out other sounds. However, Ihe wiud was frequeutly used to convcy sounds aud give an xnuicati.on of diroetion. Mr Johnston described his first long journey on horse-back from Gore after he was blinded, and said that by noting the differences in the sounds he was Imade aware of every house or farin that ho passed., and of every corner. It was essential for the blind to note every corner passed, for if one passe.d a corner without noting it then calculations were astray. His qourney was of a distance of II miles, and he never lost the road for more than two minutes throughout the journey. Cycling provided enjoyment, he said. This was done by steering with ono hand and having tho other resting upon the shoulder of a companion. Cycling in this manner offered a real xelaxation and was wonderfully enjoyable. "I believe the blind depend more upon hearing than upon anything else," he said. 4 4 1 do not know how tho deaf and blind get on, but no doubt ing affects the feeling to such an extent that one is able to develop very sensitive impressions through hearinj they develop other faculties, but hearsounds. ' ' "If a mai is really determined to overcome blindness he will find many compensations for the loss of his sight," he added. Just for example, ho believed his powers of concentration were greater now than that of the nor-mal-sighted man, because the loss of sight had made it necessary for him to concentrate. Mr. Johnston made briof mention of his work as an evangelist, in concluding his address, and said that he was not in this work because he had got to be, for he was confident that he could make his way in the work in other spheres, bnt he was in it because he felt a definite calling for it, and he was serving a useful purpose. He declared that Jesus Christ had been very real to him and been a wonderful eupporter. In Him, the speaker said, was to be found poace and satisfaction, no matter what walk of lifo a person had taken, and personally he had found Jesus Clirist to be a wonderful stay and comfort.