OUR BLINDED SOLDIERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 June 1920, Page 2

OUR BLINDED SOLDIERS.

To the Editor. Sir,—To the generous public who form your readers I owe much for the support tlioy have given to St. Dunstan's—the hostol which I established just five years ago In London Tor the care and training of the soldiers who lost their sight In the war. I think everyone knows now what heroic effort the men have made to overcome their handicap; the amazing triumph which has been theirs in the class-rooms and workshops of St. Dunstan's; yes. and how in their leisure time they have taken (Jelight in dancing and rowing—all kinds of recreations .at which they could excel—getting as close to normal life as possible. Imprmsive as that fact Is, the sequel is more so. More than a thousand of these men have completed their training, have been set up in some occupation they have mastered, and, having put their training Into practice, are able to speak not only of their. Interest in their work, not only of the most astonishing success In competition with sighted workers, but of real contentment, real enjoyment of life, of happiness and of hope—things' which seemed lost to them for ever when first the news was broken to them that they were blind. . These men who havo already returned to something Ilka their old life, while some five hundred are still In training; these men who have gone back to their homes In this country or in the sister land 3of the Empire* formi the moist remarkable body of blinded men that the world has ever known. Among these are a considerable number of New Zealanders. Tragedy is inseparable from the word blindness—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 such accomplishment as other men mav wonder at. They have made the appellation blind a mark of achievement. So long after the termination of hostilities, It might be thought that the work of St. Dunstan's was nearing an end. May I tell your readers that more than ever now I need their support? With some Ave hundred blind men in training tho hostel Is almost as crowded as ever. And on the heels of the men blinded on the battlefields are coming to us those others whom blindness has overtaken gradually (23,000 men were discharged from the amny with seriously damaged eye-sight), and It is impossible to gauge how great the demand on our resources will bo or how long continued. But apart from this tragic fact we are dealing now with an exceptionally large number of difficult cases. The men who were physically fit passed through their course of re-education In an astonishingly short time; others cannot. They need the most careful Individual attention, and though they will win out In the end, their training must go slowly. We are hampered, too, by the difficulty of getting sultablo shops and small poultry farms for the men who have completed their training, and who must, therefore, remain at St. Dunstan's Instead of ranking room for others. We have convalescent and rest homes In the country and by the sea to maintain for the use of those blinded soldiers who want change and special caTe. Meanwhile the organisation for the aftercare of the men who have left St. Dunstan's is rapidly becoming our chief concern. Because they are doing so wonderfully well Is exactly the reason why nothing must be neglected to keep up their spirits, to watch over their work that it does not unconsciously deteriorate, to see that they get the l best materials and tho best markets to keep alive that bond of fraternity which had Its beginning at St. Dunstan's. With this big programme before us we nave to face the fact that the cost of everything Is still going up by leaps and bounds. We are not going to do things less well than before for our brave blinded soldiers, and therefore our expenses must be 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 it power for good that money seldom has. Contributions to St. Dunstan's sent direct, or through this Journal, will be most gratefully acknowledgedl am, etc., ARTHUR PEARSON, Chairman Blinded Soldiers' and Sailors' Care Committee, St. Dunstan's, Regent Park, London, N.W.I, England.