SEEING WITHOUT SIGHT.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 February 1921, Page 10

SEEING WITHOUT SIGHT.

VICTORY OVER BLINDNESS. WORK AT ST. DUNSTAN’S. The recent announcement that the Prince of Wales is writing an introduction to an account of his visit to Australia and New Zealand, that will be sold for the benefit of St. Dunstan’s, the London hostel for blinded soldiers and sailors, is another proof of the Prince’s happy knack of doing the right and popular thing, and his thoughtful and gracious act should ensure a handsome return for an institution whose work Jias won the admiration of the whole Empire. In this connection it is interesting to record that Mr. W. E. Hobbs 0.8. E., a personal friend of Sir Arthur Pearson, whose name will always be ■ associated with this institution, where the blinded heroes have been taught to “see,” is at. present on a visit to Auckland. He is the bearer of a message of thanks from Sir Arthur to the people of New Zealand for the help and sympathy they have given to the men blinded in the war.

“A FACTORY OF HAPPINESS.” “St. Dunstan’s—the hostel in London where the blinded soldiers and sailors are trained—is a factory of happiness,” said Mr. Hobbs in the course of an interview. “Sir Arthur’s central idea from the first has been to inspire the men with the thought of the cheerful acceptance of blindness; to help them to forget their loss in the preoccupation of becoming extraordinarily capable as blind men. How the men' have responded to this leadership is one of the great stories of the war. Sir Arthur, himself blind, is one of the busiest men in London—and already nearly a thousand blinded soldiers are to be numbered among the busy people of the world. In all parts of England you may come on little poultry farms run by blind soldiers; on cobblers’ shops where blind men are repairing bpots in open competition with others in the trade; on where blind men do frame-making and other joinery; on home factories where baskets and mats are being made without gid of sight. “There are blinded soldiers working as skilled masseurs in the hospitals and in private practice, running the telephone exchanges in big stores, occupying responsible business positions, doing typewriting and shorthand by means of a special machine on which notes can be taken down in Braille characters as fast as anyone can .speak. “In the short time since the war these men —practically beginning life again—have come, by power of their cheerful, indomitable spirit, to their place as useful citizens—self-reliant, self-support-ing. “Rowing, swimming, dancing —whatever recreation a blind man can enjoy—they have learnt at St. 'Dunstan's; many of a musical turn have made a special study of that. The astonishing thing is that it is not one or two, or even a few score of exceptional men who are making good in this way — practically all our men blinded in the war have come under Sir Arthur’s care, and the spirit of St. Dunstan’s'affects them all.”

AFTER-CARE OF BLINDED SOLDIERS. When Mr. Hqbbs left England there were still under training some 700 of the 1700 men actually blinded in the war. The hostel was, he said, busier than ever now, and unfortunately no end to its work was in sight. Besides these 1700 men who were blinded, in the war, 23,000 were discharged ‘ from the army with badly injured eyesight. In the case of many pf them this badly damaged sight had passed, or was passing, into total blindness, and men were still going to St. Dunstan’s as rapidly as in the deadliest days of the war. “Indeed, there is no end to the work,” Mr. Hobbs stated. “Sir Arthur Pearson has built up an organisation for the After-Care of the Blinded Soldiers. It is under the direction of one of the blinded officers, and its purpose is to keep in dose touch with the growing army of blind workers, keeping up the spirit of comradeship that began at St. Dunstan’s, helping the men to get their materials, assisting them to find the best market for what they produce, and, by the constant visit of experts, giving them the encouragement and assistance they want in their work. It is a daily, even an hourly, fight which these courageous men must make to maintain their vic* tory over blindness.” FRESH AIR FUND. As long ago as 1892 Sir Arthur gave evidence of his close interest in the welfare of those who cannot help themselves by establishing Pearson’s Fresh Air Fund, to give to the poor children of the slums a happy day among the trees and flowers of the country. Mr. Hobbs has been a member of the council of the F.A.F., as it is called, for over 20 years, and he said that the whole of the expenses are met by the organisers, who, thanks to the generosity of the British public, not only at Home, but overseas, have been able to give over 4,000,000 slum children of the great towns of the United Kingdom a day’s outing in the country, and over 54,000 a fortnight’s holiday at the seaside. The King and other members of the Royal Family are annual subscribers to the F.A.F. and His Majesty has more than once taken part in the children’s outings in Epping Forest.