The Braille Forum
Vol. III November 1964 No. 4

Published Bi-Monthly by the
American Council of the Blind
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

To Inform Its Readers and to Provide an Impartial Forum for Discussion

* Editor:
Mrs. Marie M. Boring
1113 Camden Avenue
Durham, N.C. 27701

* Associate Editors:
Ned E. Freeman
136 Gee's Mill Road
Conyers, Georgia 30207

Mrs. Mary Jane Hills
33 1/2 Edmonds St.
Rochester, N.Y. 14607

George Card
605 South Few St.
Madison, WI 53703

* Executive Offices:
136 Gee's Mill Road
Conyers, Georgia 30207

*****

** Statement of Editorial Policy

The Braille Forum is dedicated to promoting the greater independence, autonomy and dignity of all blind people. 

The Forum will carry  official ACB news and programs, but its pages will also be available for free expression of views and opinions. Insofar as possible the Forum will publish news of organizations and agencies of and for the blind and any developments of interest to its readers. Timely material is solicited. 

Selections of material will be made on the basis of interest, timeliness, originality, clarity and forcefulness of expression. In controversial matters space will be made available for the presentation of divergent points of view.

** Notice

The Braille Forum is available in braille, inkprint and on tape. Miss June Goldsmith, 652 E. Mallory Avenue, Memphis, Tennessee 38106, should be notified of any change of address or of any person desiring to receive the braille or inkprint editions. 

The tape edition may be obtained from Mr. Ned E. Freeman, 136 Gees Mill Road, Conyers, Georgia 30207.

Letters and material for publication should be submitted to the Editor or to one of the Associate Editors.

*****

** Table of Contents

Grateful Appreciation 

ACB President's Fireside Chat

Study of Braille At 76, by E. Litvinoff

Illinois Flash

Affiliation Sparks Enthusiasm

Oregon Council Votes Affiliation, by George L. Fogarty

South Dakota Association Holds Camping Convention, by Dean Sumner 

Abacus Arithmetic for the Blind, by Henry Kruse, Jr. 

Thunder of Waters, by June Goldsmith 

ACB Speakers Active Coast to Coast 

Drugs May Halt Fading Eyesight

Visiting New York in 1964, by Juliet Bindt

Pride of the Blind

President Proclaims White Cane Safety Day, by Ned Freeman

Member of ACB Publications Board Passes

Hyde Park Corner, Conducted by Earl Scharry

Here and There, by George Card

ACB Officers and Directors

*****

** Grateful Appreciation

The preparation and circulation of the tape edition of the Braille Forum is being sponsored and supported by Ways & Means for the Blind, Augusta, Georgia, of which Mr. Hubert E. Smith is President and prime mover. We have just received from Ways & Means a second tape recorder which will make it possible to make two copies of the master tape simultaneously, thus greatly decreasing the time required for making the necessary copies. Since we now have about 90 names on the tape Forum mailing list, at least 30 individual copies must be made in order to avoid undue delay in getting the Forum out to those who are awaiting it. Ways & Means has also furnished the tapes and the mailing cartons used in connection with the tape edition of the Forum. This is one of seven tape library operations now being sponsored by Ways & Means. 

Mel Cohen of the Tape Library for the Blind in Atlanta is making our master copy; is serving as a consultant on recording techniques; and, in addition, has done some of the copying for us. 

Numerous members of the Oklahoma Federation of the Blind assist with the assembling and addressing of each issue of the sight-saving-type edition of the Forum. This greatly reduces the cost of the preparation of this edition. 

To all of these dedicated individuals, the ACB Publications Board and the Forum staff extend our grateful appreciation.

*****

** ACB President's Fireside Chat

My Friends: 

A line in George Card's report of the ACB convention which appeared in the September Forum caught my eye. He thought it worthwhile to mention that all of the guest speakers were well received, and none was subjected to harassment. Well, of course. Common decency demands that one who is invited to participate in the program of any organization be treated courteously. 

The American Council of the Blind feels that greater progress in the improvement of programs for the blind can be accomplished when representatives of the service agencies and of organizations of the blind discuss these matters in a spirit of cooperation and goodwill on both sides. For this reason, I am trying to arrange for a two-day meeting  -- call it a seminar, call it a forum -- of representatives of the governmental and private nation-wide agencies with representatives from the organized blind groups throughout the country. I would like to hear from each of you as to your reaction to this proposal.

ACB will again be active in the forthcoming 89th Congress. Two matters will receive our primary attention. Those blind persons who are employed at submarginal income receive Aid-to-the-Blind grants, and the first $85 per month and half their earnings above $85 are exempt from consideration in determining their AB grants. Most of these people are covered by Social Security and pay the regular OASI social security tax; but when they retire, either on account of disability or old age, and are thus entitled to benefits under OASI, these small payments are not exempt and immediately wipe out the AB payments. We shall make strenuous efforts to eliminate this inequity. 

Also in connection with OASI, strenuous efforts will be made to liberalize the provisions for those persons drawing disability benefits who are trying to re-establish themselves as fully self-supporting citizens. The trial work period of 9 to 12 months is not long enough for a disabled person to become established in a new business or profession, and the present yardstick of $100 per month is totally inadequate as evidence of ability to engage in substantial gainful activity. In most cases the disabled person who is trying to establish himself has extra expenses not shared by his non-handicapped colleague, and these should be taken into consideration in determining whether his activity is substantial or gainful.

Faithfully yours,
Ned Freeman

*****

** Study of Braille at 76 Difficult But Rewarding

(The following letter was in the May 8, 1963, issue of the People's Forum.)

Sir: This week we observe White Cane Week in special recognition of the problems of the blind. It may be of interest to sighted people to learn of my own problem in studying braille. For a long time I hesitated to do so. 

I hesitated because many people told me that it is too difficult, that they started and were compelled to drop it because they could not recognize the letters, composed of tiny sand-like embossed dots. When they are in groups composing words, they all feel alike. One young lady concluded, "Don't start what you can't finish." Another lady, whom I wanted very much to know better and closer, told me that she will give me her telephone number only providing that I will mark it down in braille. ... and so, challenged, I study braille! In spite of my 76 years, I am determined to learn it!

I walk around, so to speak, with my finger, trying to recognize the letters and make out a word. ... I touch them, I pet them, I tickle them, but they act as strangers and they don't respond. ... All of a sudden as if an electric current touched me. ... I was thrilled and surprised. Feeling the dots again, I clearly felt under my finger ... D A D. ... Again and again I went over it, petting it as gently as I could. ... oh, yes, there is no doubt, it reads "DAD." I was thrilled as if I had found my own dad after many years of separation!

Up to date I have had only a very few lessons and all I know are twelve letters, but I am able to read not only separate words but many, many sentences. ... Every sentence tells me a story, a colorful, interesting story. ... Now I will tell you that I have a deep respect for all these tiny dots. There are only six of them; I did not meet all of them yet. ... They seem to me as a group of six outstanding actors who are able to present and perform the work of the greatest thinkers, philosophers and writers. My problem is to be wise enough to make them out and understand what they are willing to present to me.

I hope I live long enough and work hard enough to "see" their greatest performances.

I am not able yet to mark down HER telephone number!

E. Litvinoff
Springfield, Mass.

*****

** Illinois Flash

Following telegram received just prior to going to press   from ACB Membership Chairman to ACB President:

"October 27. ILLINOIS's convention voted almost unanimously for affiliation before December 31 provided Illinois Board finds no insoluble conflict between their constitution and ours. -- George Card"

*****

** Affiliation Sparks Enthusiasm

The following letter from the secretary of the North Carolina Federation of the Blind seems to epitomize the reaction to affiliation with ACB in each of the six state organizations which have voted for affiliation with the American Council of the Blind since June 1 of this year. This certainly does express the joy of the American Council as it welcomes the North Dakota Association of the Blind, the South Dakota Association of the Blind, Georgia Federation of the Blind, the Oregon Council of the Blind, the North Carolina Federation of the Blind, and the latest to be added to the list (October 25), the Illinois Federation of the Blind.

The NC Federation of the Blind, 2118-D Everitt Street, Greensboro, N.C. 27401 

to Ned Freeman, President, ACB

Dear Mr. President:

Once again the flame of the North Carolina Federation of the Blind is burning bright and hope is high. A new Day is before us and a better Day than we have ever known. Our support -- in its fullest -- goes for the ACB, and the day cannot approach us too early when you or the Council or we can say YES, WE HAVE BECOME AFFILIATED WITH THE AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND.

Our tenth annual convention closed on the happy note: LET US JOIN THE AMERICAN COUNCIL OF THE BLIND. Thrills and laughter rang loudly and clearly through the assembly room and everyone rejoiced.

We thank you for Bud (Orrell). He accomplished his mission. He satisfied the longings of the NCFB.

Send us the application form, please, needed in order to assure the NCFB that it will be accepted.

Thank you.

Very truly yours,
L.T. Barrett, Sr., Secretary
J. Edward Miller, President

*****

** Oregon Council Votes Affiliation
By George L. Fogarty

The Oregon Council of the Blind invited the American Council of the Blind to send a representative to its annual convention held October 17-18 in Portland, Oregon. The writer was privileged to receive this assignment to speak to OCB concerning the structure, philosophy and program of ACB. (Mr. Fogarty's address to the Oregon Council titled, "Why The American Council of the Blind, And What Is Its Current Role?" will appear in a later issue of the Braille Forum.)

The talk was very well received by the membership, and following the formal presentation, some 20 minutes were spent answering questions from the floor. One matter which seemed to concern a number of the members was the prospect for reunification of the organized blind movement. The answer to this question was that the best road to unity lay in helping to build a strong, representative American Council of the Blind. One OCB member observed in this connection that organized labor had gone through a similar divergence but that the reunited AFL-CIO now appeared to be stronger and more influential than ever.

It was quite apparent from conversation with individual members of the Oregon Council that both George Card and Ned Freeman had many friends in this group, and that their devotion to the cause of the well-being of all blind persons was greatly appreciated by all. George Card, in particular, has many personal friends in Oregon who sent him their greetings and best wishes.

It was not possible for me to remain for the business meeting which was held on Sunday. The enthusiasm for ACB seemed to be high, and nearly everyone recognized that a strong national voice was essential to bring about improvements in local and state programs affecting the blind. I left Portland with no misgivings as to the ultimate outcome. I was later advised that on Sunday the Oregon Council of the Blind voted overwhelmingly in favor of affiliation with the American Council of the Blind.

*****

** South Dakota Association for the Blind Holds Camping Convention
By Dean Sumner, SDAB Secretary

The 1964 convention of the South Dakota Association for the Blind convened at the YMCA camp located on the north shore of Pickerel Lake in northeastern South Dakota on the evening of Sunday, August 9, 1964. There were many blind people with their families present from throughout the state of South Dakota.

The convention proper opened on Monday morning with registration and addresses of welcome. Very few outside speakers were obtained for this convention since the program committee had concluded that the meetings should be devoted, for the most part, to a discussion of past, present and future activities of the South Dakota Association for the Blind. During the course of the three  day convention, panels spoke on problems of membership, organization, projects and general association activities. During all meetings, the membership participated freely in the discussions which were, upon occasion, quite lively.

The highlight of the 1964 convention occurred on Tuesday evening when Delbert Aman reported on his recent attendance at the annual convention of the American Council of the Blind. Delbert gave a glowing report of the growth and activities of the council, telling of the vigorous strength of its members and of the continued vitality of the organization. Following Mr. Aman's report, a motion was made and seconded for the affiliation of the South Dakota Association for the Blind with the American Council of the Blind, said affiliation to take place on or about January 1, 1965. The motion, after a very brief discussion, was unanimously adopted. Unless earlier affiliations take place, South Dakota will therefore become the ninth affiliate of the ACB.

Another item at the convention which might be of general interest throughout the country was a presentation of the Gus Zachte Award. This award, which was presented this year by Dean Sumner, is presented annually to the person or organization contributing most to work for the blind in the state of South Dakota during the past year. This year, this award was presented to Donald Daly of the Aberdeen, South Dakota, police department. On his own time, Officer Daly organized, supervised and is still directing a rifle team made up solely of students of the South Dakota School for the Blind in Aberdeen. Mr. Daly reported to the convention, upon receiving the award, that the blind students shoot 22 target rifles at targets covering a two-inch-wide pipe from which a short piercing sound is emitted by means of a tube oscillator. He stated that many of his students have never handled a rifle before coming to his classes, but that they have all shown amazing marksmanship and that he had a student who could now shoot a 62 from a distance of 50 feet. Shooting is done from standing, sitting, kneeling and prone positions. The administration of the South Dakota School for the Blind is to be congratulated for permitting such activities to go on at the school. The superintendent stated that this project had been enjoyed greatly by the students, but also was of great assistance in the orientation of students for traveling training purposes. It is to be hoped that such projects will be started in other schools. Of course, information can be furnished upon request.

Following the business sessions, the balance of the week was spent by the members and their families in boating, sailing, water skiing, fishing, swimming, canoeing, archery and hiking. All members who attended the convention had a truly enjoyable and relaxing week in the lakeland of South Dakota. The weather was somewhat chilly, but certainly did not dim the enthusiasm of the members. We of South Dakota heartily recommend camping conventions to those of you who are bound to city streets and smoke-filled hotel rooms. It is truly an exhilarating experience.

*****

** Abacus Arithmetic for the Blind
By J. Henry Kruse, Jr.

(Instructor in Business Methods at the California Orientation Center for the Blind)

In July 1964 more than 30 persons gathered in Lexington, Kentucky, to take part in the University of Kentucky's Abacus Institute. This two-week institute is believed to have been the first course in the use of the abacus ever offered at an American university. The institute attracted persons concerned with the education of the blind from all over the United States and from four other nations. There were teachers from residential schools, resource rooms, rehabilitation centers and home teaching programs.

These teachers all felt the inadequacy of methods previously employed to teach mathematical concepts to the blind. Other apparatus employed by blind persons to perform mathematical operations is, at best, slow and cumbersome. The various type slates require the selection and precise setting of individual types for each number. Braille writing equipment is not well adapted to mathematical processes. That which is written on a braille slate cannot be read as it is written, and that which is written on a braillewriter, while sometimes tangible immediately, is still not useful because the machines space only from left to right. Adaptations of slide rules for the blind are less precise than their visual counterparts, and have the built-in error common to slide rules. Many blind persons have endeavored to avoid these problems by developing to the highest possible potential their ability to perform mathematical calculations mentally. There is a point, however, beyond which even the best memory cannot be stretched, and there mental calculation breaks down.

The abacus offers to blind persons the same advantages that it offers to the seeing. It is an inexpensive, compact, self-contained calculating instrument which should last a lifetime. Like any other tool, its mastery requires time, study and practice, but this investment is well rewarded.

Why should a blind person want to add long columns of figures or multiply multidigit numbers? Similar questions have been asked as to why a blind person should wish to read or to travel alone. The only answer is that each additional tool or skill enables a person to become more nearly independent. Every new tool or skill opens the door to the acquisition of additional ones. That is the direction of progress. It is true that some innovations are not progress, but mere dead ends. The abacus, however, has proved itself over a period of many centuries.

By definition, the abacus is a counting frame. Stretched across this frame are a number of wires or rods. On these rods are strung beads which move freely, and which serve as counters. The simplest form of abacus has nine beads on each.

Modern scholarship believes that the abacus was probably invented by the Romans, though independent development by various civilizations is possible. The use of the counting frame probably moved from the West to China where it took strong hold. Its use continued in Europe until the 16th century brought the introduction of writing equipment and the spread of literacy.

The Russian abacus, which is still used today, has nine beads on most rods and four on some. It is designed primarily for monetary calculations in the Russian system of currency.

The Chinese divided the abacus with a bar which intersects all the rods. They left two beads above the bar and five below It. They thus greatly increased the speed and versatility of abacal calculation.

The Japanese took the Chinese abacus and simplified both the instrument and the method of calculation. The modern Japanese abacus, which is correctly called a "scroban," has one bead above the bar on each rod and four beads below the bar. That is the smallest number of beads with which it is possible to work with a numerical system having a base of ten.

About six years ago the present writer first thought seriously about employing this Japanese instrument and method in the day-to-day operations of his law office. There arose two seemingly insuperable obstacles. The abaci available in oriental curio shops all had beads which moved at the touch of a feather. They could hardly be read by touch without moving the beads.

Secondly, there was no literature on the subject available in braille. The Library of Congress wrote that because of the need for diagrams, it would be impossible to put a book on the abacus into braille. At that time we did not realize how sparse is even ink-print literature on the subject. To this day, we know of only two good books in English on the theory and use of the Japanese abacus.

At the Orientation Center for the Blind, we found that many of our newly blinded students were severely irked by their inability to perform mathematical calculations and to do for themselves such simple things as keeping their own checkbooks as they used to do. We also came into contact with blind persons who had received most of their education while blind, and who had little concept of the nature of numbers. We thus became more urgently aware of the desirability of making the abacus available to blind persons.

Our first solutions to the problems entailed in the use of the abacus by the blind were found by one of our students. His probable future employment depended upon his ability to make fast, accurate arithmetic calculations. He, therefore, showed the necessary incentive and ingenuity to solve the problems. He put tension on the beads by backing an ordinary Chinese abacus with a rubber pad, so that they could be touch-read. He then had read to him an ink print book of instructions for the Chinese abacus. With these materials, we began teaching the abacus to our students.

At about this time we read of the work being done in Kentucky on this subject. Mr. T.V. Cranmer, director of Services to the Blind, Kentucky Department of Rehabilitation, had developed a pocket-size Japanese abacus which could be used by the blind, and Mr. L. Gissoni, a rehabilitation counselor for the blind in Kentucky, had published a book in braille on the use of the Cranmer abacus. We promptly ordered both. The Cranmer abacus is so much more compact and convenient than the clumsy ones we had been using, and Mr. Gissoni's book is such a model of step  by-step clarity that they have both become a regular part of the curriculum at our orientation center.

The following information on available material will be of interest to those blind persons and teachers of the blind who wish to pursue this matter further. There is an excellent ink print textbook "The Japanese Abacus, Its Use and Theory," by Fred L. Gissoni, American Printing House for the Blind, 1839 Frankfort Avenue, Louisville, Kentucky 40206, price $2.55 plus 10 cents postage. At last report Mr. Gissoni was still willing to make a tape-recorded copy of his book for anyone who would send him an 1800-foot reel of magnetic tape. The Hadley School for the Blind, 700 Elm Street, Winnetka, Ill., offers a free correspondence course in the use of the abacus.

To study and practice, you will, of course, require an abacus. Personally, we have become habituated to, and therefore greatly prefer, the Cranmer abacus, available from the American Printing House for the Blind at $2.95 plus 10 cents postage. You could purchase an ordinary abacus and make or have made in it such modifications as will render it useful to a blind person. Our experience leads us to believe that you will be less than fully satisfied with the results of this procedure.

In Japan, blind students use the Takeda abacus, manufactured by the Horie Company of Tokyo. This instrument is expected soon to be available through a Los Angeles agent. It is a desk abacus having 23 columns, and is excellent for solving long and complicated problems. In Denmark, blind students use a large desk abacus which makes use of increased travel distance for the beads rather than tension. Each student should choose the abacus most convenient for him.

Those of us who participated in the University of Kentucky Abacus Institute had an opportunity to increase our familiarity and skill with the abacus under most expert instruction and guidance. We were also able to confer with other teachers having interests and problems similar to our own. To continue and expand the work of the institute, we formed the Abacus Association of America, with membership open to all abacus operators. The officers of the association are:

President - Fred L. Gissoni, Bureau of Rehabilitation Services, State Office Building, 122 West High Street, Lexington, Kentucky
Vice-President - J. Henry Kruse, Jr., c/o Orientation Center for the Blind, 400 Adams Street, Albany, California 94706
Secretary-Treasurer - Miss Lorraine Murin, 535 Westport Turnpike, Westport, Connecticut

The association is looking for new members, and plans to publish a periodic bulletin to be known as Soroban.

The Abacus Association will not restrict itself to promoting the use of the abacus among blind persons. The present revolution in the teaching of mathematics might well lead to the adoption of this excellent instrument for the teaching of number theory. Various companies, including the International Business Machines Company, have recently shown active interest in the abacus. It may well turn out as with long-playing record and the typewriter: That which was originally developed as an aid to the blind will achieve a more general use.

In the meantime, the value of the abacus to blind persons has been demonstrated beyond dispute. It is to be hoped that the instrument will soon receive prompt acceptance among teachers of the blind and that blind persons everywhere will learn the technique of abacus operation.

*****

** Thunder of Waters
By June Goldsmith

(On the Niagara Falls tour during the ACB convention)

On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer

Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold, 
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen; 
Round many Western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne;
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific -- and all his men 
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise -- 
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

-- John Keats

So must the first white men have felt when they gazed upon the incredible splendor of Niagara Falls. Undoubtedly, the early explorers, Spanish, French, and English, had heard many tales from the Indians of the mighty rush of waters of these cataracts, and of the deep gorge, the rapids and whirlpool, the river which carries the waters of Lake Erie down and down into Lake Ontario. These tales must have been listened to and believed with the same fervor as were the tales of the fabled city of Quivira. The white men must have "look'd at each other with a wild surmise "

They say it is good farm country between Rochester and the Canadian border, and I believe them. They grow soul-and-body foods, beans, cabbages, and potatoes -- and cherries. They said the trees in the cherry orchards were loaded with fruit. We stopped and bought a big basket of cherries, and they were sweet and delicious. What days of feast the robins must have in July in northern New York. They said you could still see cobblestone barns, houses, and fences. After the Dutch masons had built the first Erie canal, they wished to remain in the United States, and they needed work. So the farmers of northern New York hired them to build houses and barns out of the cobblestones with which they worked so familiarly. They said the flower gardens were so well tended, and so colorful and beautiful. Going through customs is amusing, but the moment of each self-identification is quite solemn, and you must believe that. It always thrills one, and makes him feel humble and proud, each time he realizes that all the thousands of miles of border between Canada and the United States are free and unpatrolled, that it is a border, not a frontier.

The open-air elevator that takes you down to the river Niagara is exciting and a tiny bit frightening. It has seats like a grandstand, and you go almost straight down. It's like a rollercoaster; we call it the Pippin, here in Memphis.

The American and Canadian falls can be seen and heard from almost any point in the area. Even to a person with limited vision, such as I, the unbelievable splendor, wonder, and grace of Niagara Falls is overwhelming. They looked like silver curtains hanging in graceful folds; I could see the water rushing down, and the spray like earthbound, fleecy clouds. When you crossed from one side of the river to the other, and you came so close, so close to the falls, you were possessed, engulfed, drowned in sound and spray, and it was sweet release.

Man in his childishness, his brashness, thinks he can improve upon Nature. He has made the area more comfortable, much safer than it was for the first men, and he has brightened up the towns to attract tourists. But the falls are changeless, unchanging; they rush and roar. And the people go away, having grown a little, inwardly, praise be to God, because they have come so close to His powerful hand.

*****

** ACB Speakers Active Coast to Coast

In its program of service to state organizations, four ACB speakers conferred with seven state organizations during the months of September and October.

Durward McDaniel, ACB first vice-president and credit union chairman, was invited to attend the Labor Day convention of the Tennessee Federation of the Blind to assist them in the formation of a credit union to serve their membership. As a result of his visit, a state-chartered credit union has been established and is now in operation. Those of us who have had experience with credit unions in such state organizations are confident that this new service to its members will greatly strengthen the Tennessee federation. While returning from the Tennessee meeting, Mr. McDaniel conferred with officials of the Associated Blind of Kentucky in Louisville and with those of the Missouri Federation of the Blind in St. Louis.

The Michigan Federation of the Blind at its annual meeting in Detroit on October 9 heard Ned Freeman, ACB president, give the banquet address. His talk was titled "In Paths They Have Not Known" and dealt with the need for new philosophies, more imagination and more progressive programs in the field of services to the blind.

During this meeting the deficiencies in the Michigan state program were frankly outlined by Mr. Ed Fitting, the recently appointed head of the Michigan rehabilitation program. He discussed the statistics in several categories of services relative to what is being done in other states, showing that in several areas, Michigan ranked 49th or 47th or 45th. Mr. Fitting is developing what he terms a "five-year plan" and expressed a hope that at the conclusion of this period, rehabilitation work in Michigan will have achieved at least half its potential.

The week-end of October 17-18 found three ACB speakers in widely separated cities. George Fogarty, secretary of the Associated Blind of California and an ACB charter member, had been invited to speak at the convention of the Oregon Council of the Blind at Portland. A full report of this meeting will be found elsewhere in this issue. Here, suffice it to say that during this convention the Oregon Council of the Blind voted to become affiliated with the American Council of the Blind.

The North Carolina Federation of the Blind invited both the American Council of the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind to send representatives to their annual convention in Greensboro. F.W. (Bud) Orrell, treasurer of the Tennessee Federation of the Blind, ACB director and finance chairman, represented ACB. But NFB refused the invitation. This convention is also reported more fully in this issue, which report shows that North Carolina also voted to affiliate with ACB.

The state organization believed to have the longest name in the annals of the organized blind, the State Council of New Jersey Organizations of the Blind, also invited Ned Freeman as its banquet speaker. Mr. Freeman used the same title for his address as he had used in Detroit the previous week-end. Both at Detroit and at Elizabeth, New Jersey, Mr. Freeman had the opportunity to confer with the leaders of the organizations concerning their special problems and was able to make suggestions as to methods of coping with these and to offer the assistance of the national organization. The most pressing problem at this time in New Jersey is the question of a successor for George Meyers, recently retired executive head of the New Jersey Commission for the Blind. The state council is actively working to have a well-qualified blind person appointed to fill his vacancy. George Meyers was himself blind. George Burck, long active in the organized blind movement at the local, state and national levels, is one of two blind members of the Board of Managers of the New Jersey Commission, and ardently supports the concept of a highly qualified blind executive director.

The Blind Men's Association of New Jersey, one of the state council s affiliated groups, is at present rehearsing for its semi-annual theatrical production, which uses blind talent exclusively. Proceeds from these productions are used to support the camping program sponsored by the organization.

One of the objectives of the American Council of the Blind is to assist and advise state and local organizations of the blind in every way possible at their request. All of the organization's officers and directors have had many years of experience in the organized blind movement, and the results of this experience will be made available to any group who may need assistance with some specific problem.

*****

** Drugs May Halt Fading Eyesight

(Editor's note: The following was published in the Daily Oklahoman Sept. 7.)

Fading eyesight as the years go by may be checked by a group of drugs called peripheral vasodilators, a 13-year study at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Montreal, Quebec, shows.

Dr. H. Wyatt Laws, the hospital's chief ophthalmologist, said four drugs were tested that increase the blood flow to eye areas. He treated 237 patients over 13 years. In his report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Dr. Laws said he got positive results from nicotinic acid, nicotinyl alcohol, tolazoline hydrochloride and nylidrin hydrochloride. Of those who benefitted, he said, the majority were over 70 and afflicted with senile muscular degeneration, progressive opacity of the cornea or lens of the eye. The remaining 44 percent were suffering a variety of blood vessel disorders affecting the eyes. With treatment, vision improved or remained stable in 87 percent of the cases. These 237 were compared with elderly patients who had refused medication.

*****

** Visiting New York In 1964
By Juliet Bindt

"What can you get out of sight-seeing without sight?" This question has been asked frequently as I tell about going under Niagara Falls on the Maid of the Mist and touring the gigantic power plant that handles the electricity from the falls throughout much of Canada and the U.S. The trip included a delicious lunch at one of Canada's stately hotels -- that can be enjoyed without sight. Then down and down odd-shaped steps to the boat, donning heavy rubber slickers and going right out under the spray and roar of the falls -- all very vivid impressions. And as one went into that huge power plant, down 22 stories in a swift elevator to massive hall, and heard the mysteries of electronics explained by the guide as we stood before a window overlooking a huge room of instruments that could be handled by just two men -- it certainly awed one to realize man vs. wondrous accomplishments.

Then, in New York City, it was around Manhattan on a three-and-a-half-hour boat ride with an excellent announcer who made it easy to visualize the various types of bridges and shorelines -- the motion of the boat, the warm sun, the noises of the harbor and distances between points made it far more realistic than just reading about it. How do people stand that thundering, hot subway? They don't call stops; you can hardly stand on your feet when the cars jerk to a halt. But when I asked the travel trainers about it, they scoffed at the idea that blind persons should have any real difficulties after a little orientation.

The World Council for the Welfare of the Blind arranged an up-state and a city tour, and I took the latter. It included sniffing about in Chinatown, which, of course, seemed rather tame to a San Francisco Bay dweller. Then we walked through Wall Street -- almost deserted on Saturday -- and were told the sun in some spots only hits the pavement for a few minutes each noon when it can pierce between those tall buildings. I was surprised to know what ordinary little shops line the ground floor of those buildings where so much wealth is handled. Then came the ferry ride out to the Statue of Liberty -- I was amazed at the crowd, and the elevator man who swished us in his tiny cage up 10 flights said that every day in the summer they take in about 3000 dimes which doesn't include the people who choose to walk those 150 feet. Then I did walk inside the statue from her feet to the crown, up and down 168 tiny, tightly winding steps -- that made an impression on my leg muscles that I didn't forget for several days! Another stop was the largest cathedral in the world, St. John the Divine's, which the Episcopalians will be constructing for many more years. The acoustics told one of its immensity, and the guide explained the many religious articles. We were allowed to touch some of the huge carvings. Lincoln Center is the art center that is still under construction. It is a large rectangle with gushing fountains, around which there are to be six buildings. They have completed the one for the symphony and state theater. We went into the former with its perfect acoustics and sat in the luxurious balcony seats upholstered in various shades of gold. The three balconies are not the conventional horseshoe shape; they start to slant downward instead of rounding the side walls, and so all seats face the stage straightforward and each balcony slants down to the floor below at either end. The buildings for opera, little theater, dance and fine arts are still to be built, and almost the entire project has been financed by private donations from here and abroad. Again we were allowed to touch some of the lovely textures and art objects.

There were three visits to the World's Fair, and my orientation was greatly aided by an excellent braille guide description that was transcribed by the New York Lighthouse for the Blind and is given out at the National Industries for the Blind exhibit. I certainly recommend that only those with sturdy legs and quick adaptability attempt such a visit. Almost every building had moving platforms, seats, stages or escalators -- and they are not always apparent until the last minute, so that a guide doesn't have much chance to orient one. I had a couple of near accidents but managed to keep my equilibrium, and I did enjoy the many descriptions of the announcers with the need for relatively little explanation from a companion. Naturally, one can gain more by standing for a long time before cases full of every conceivable kind of foreign treasure, art objects, pictures, etc. -- but that would take much time! Almost every exhibit portrayed the progress of man from before the world was created to date, and one is really amazed at the progress of this century, which we forget in our daily rush. Anyone with color perception would enjoy the beautifully lighted fountains and fireworks displays each evening.

Coming from a metropolitan area, I wasn't so intrigued by the fancy restaurants of all kinds and very high prices, though I did enjoy a delicious French meal in a sidewalk cafe with strolling minstrels in Greenwich Village and my first fancy Swiss meal at the Fair. But there were many inexpensive places to eat at the Fair.

We had two days of meetings at the United Nations Building which is made almost entirely of glass. The architects stressed utility, and so some of the rooms show the pipes or rough siding. This was hard for me to imagine, but I'm told it is attractive. I could feel the lovely carpets and sense the spaciousness of the rooms. And it was fun sitting in the delegates' places and hanging a little plastic box on one's ear, then turning to the language desired which was being simultaneously interpreted. It was interesting to note the arrangement of the lounge chairs -- those for the UN delegates at tables, with microphones and pairs of chairs behind them for assistants. I know it will make a UN broadcast much more vivid for me.

I hope this gets over how many nonvisual impressions one can get in sight-seeing. Perhaps it might be compared to the difference in sitting at home and listening to the radio to a sports event, or sitting with that same radio in a big stadium surrounded by enthusiastic spectators. Sight certainly is not an essential for sight-seeing.

*****

** Pride of the Blind

The following article from the September, 1963, issue of The Credit Union Magazine published in Madison, Wisconsin, tells the story of the credit union organized by the Oklahoma Federation of the Blind, an ACB affiliate.)

"Blind people take pride in helping themselves. That's why I am convinced that a credit union for the blind in Oklahoma will be able to do an important service."

These words of Durward K. McDaniel persuaded four blind people's groups to organize LASS Federal Credit Union in Oklahoma City during January of 1954. The groups' leaders had held several very lively discussions about credit unions. Some of these leaders had expressed strong opposition to a blind people's credit union with statewide membership, because they feared failure.

But McDaniel had served previously on the board of another credit union. He was an enthusiastic proponent of the credit union idea, and he was deeply respected by his associates for his ability and sincerity, so he was able to get support for his statewide credit union project. When he concluded his speech with the announcement that he would put $100 of his savings into his new credit union share account, 13 of those present decided to follow his example.

Who is Durward McDaniel? He is an Oklahoma City attorney who spends a major portion of his time in unpaid work with blind people's organizations on the local, state and national levels. At the same time he sold the credit union idea to his associates, he was president of the Oklahoma League for the Blind, a statewide service organization. The tall, slender Oklahoman lost his sight in an oil field explosion when he was 15 years old.

The four groups served by LASS Federal Credit Union are the Oklahoma Federation of the Blind, School for the Blind League for the Blind, their employees, and the employees of the state Services for the Blind. With a membership potential of 500 to 700, the credit union today has 259 members, $110,019 in shares, and 120 loans for $117,685. Of the present membership, 188 are blind people or members of their families; the rest are sighted persons. The initials of the credit union stand for League, Association, School, Services.

"Blind people are good credit risks," said Linnie Swink, treasurer of the credit union since organization and editor of Oklahoma Federation News for the Blind. "But they are not able to obtain credit as freely as other people. Most sighted persons take the approach that blind people are questionable credit risks."

"We have the same credit needs as all other people," Mrs. Swink continued, "so at first we wondered whether there would be enough money among our membership to finance the loans of the members, but this fear was soon dispelled."

Linnie Swink has several unusual qualifications for her position as treasurer of a credit union for the blind. She was born blind and attended the school for the blind at Muskogee, Oklahoma. When she was 16 years old her cataracts were removed, and she can now see normally with the aid of contact lenses. Her husband is blind. ...

Communication problems include getting information to the members and helping the field of membership to understand that the credit union is not the same as a labor union. ... "It seems to me after observing our members for 9 years, that word of mouth is the best and most effective publicity for blind people. That's why I am very happy to note that the Oklahoma Federation of the Blind has just engaged a field representative who will visit town after town in our state to make personal contact with blind persons. One of her many functions will be to tell the blind about their credit union."

... LASS Federal Credit Union receives nearly all of its share and loan payments through the mails, except for 12 Oklahoma League for the Blind employees who have payroll deduction and a half dozen other members.

... For what purposes are LASS members borrowing? The credit needs of the blind are quite similar to those of persons in other fields of membership. Here are some actual loan cases:

A member was so heavily in debt that his wages would have been garnished without a loan. LASS's credit committee approved the request. The member repaid in full and is now a strong friend of the credit union idea.

Another member was told that he could not leave the hospital until he had paid his bill. "We made an emergency loan to this member because that's what we feel we are here for," Treasurer Swink reported. "He was a little bit slow in making his payments, but we were glad to have had the opportunity to help him."

A third member had mortgaged her household furniture with two different creditors and was in quite a jam when she came to the credit union for aid. Explained Linnie Swink, "This member had just lost her husband who had always taken care of all business matters. She had absolutely no experience in money matters. When she needed money, she accepted the offers of commercial lenders. This member repaid her loan like clockwork, proving again the importance of basing credit union lending on character and nothing else."

The utility company suddenly turned off the gas at the home of a member who had been generally lax in paying all of his creditors. It was in mid-winter, and the house was so cold that the wife and children had to stay in bed, while the member went to his well-heated place of work. Treasurer Swink visited the utility company's office, paid the member's bill and obtained reinstatement of the suspended gas service.

In another case, a teen-aged son was picked up during the night and jailed. An emergency loan enabled the mother to pay his fifty-dollar fine.

To find out what the members think about their credit union, The Credit Union Magazine interviewed several at their place of work. Their comments had two things in common: appreciation of credit union service and pride in having a part in their own self-help organization. These are their comments:

Donald Lee Baker, a bolt sorting machine operator who was born blind, said, "I think the credit union is all right. We find people would have a hard time to get credit elsewhere. That's why we are glad to have a credit union. I borrowed last year to get rings to get married."

George F. Mansfield, an engine hardware sorter with corneal transplants in both eyes and less than 10% vision, said, "The credit union is fine. It helped me save more money than I have ever had before."

Mrs. Janet B. Story, the mother of an eight-year-old boy, had two cataract operations and is now fighting glaucoma. She considers it a pleasure "to be among people who know that our credit rating is good. Although I am not much of a borrower, it's a wonderful feeling to know that I can borrow money if I should need it ..."

Bob M. Duckworth, who has been legally blind since birth, is supervising a department which manufactures mats out of old rubber tires and also disassembles old parking meters, thinks that the credit union "is one of the best things that ever happened to blind and disabled people. It has helped me pay off back debts, buy furniture as well as a new car. No, I don't drive the car, but my wife does."

Saving in the credit union is promoted with the assistance of the home teachers of the State Services for the Blind and speeches at the annual convention of the Oklahoma Federation of the Blind.

The credit union has a forced thrift program. It is the outcome of a resolution passed by the membership at an annual meeting some years ago, which requires all borrowing members to have at least 10% of the loan amount in savings. Members without sufficient savings in their share accounts must add the appropriate amount to the loan notes.

The credit union has not received a single member complaint about its thrift rule. On the contrary, the group has heard many expressions of satisfaction, saying, "I am glad that you are making me save. Otherwise, I would never have put aside anything worthwhile." Another effect of the savings resolution is the marked reduction in the number of five-dollar share accounts.

... Since the credit union started, it has charged off $912.37 in five loans and has recovered $175 of this amount.

Is this blind people's group meeting its goals? Are the members getting the services they hoped to get when they decided to organize their own credit union? Is the credit union enabling its members to lead better lives and have a greater share in the economy of which they are a part?

The answer to each of these questions is a positive "Yes," the interviewed board members told The Credit Union Magazine.

Reviewing the progress of the past ten years, charter member Durward McDaniel is grateful for the opportunity to help prove to the blind in Oklahoma that they can run their own credit union. "I think this credit union has more significance to its members than most," he said, "But its function is essentially the same as that of any other credit union. We have a number of members who couldn't get credit anywhere else. Our membership, though scattered widely over the state of Oklahoma, has a very close common bond. We know each other well, and I should not be surprised if our credit committee would often be better acquainted with the member than is the case in an average industrial group. We are exceptionally proud of our credit union because it plays such an important role in our self-help program."

*****

** President Proclaims White Cane Safety Day

On October 6 President Johnson issued a proclamation designating October 15 as White Cane Safety Day. In doing so the President said, "I call upon all our citizens to make every effort to promote the safety and welfare of our blind persons on the streets and highways, and thereby to contribute to their independence of spirit and their capability for self-management." This action marks the culmination of 18 months of cooperative effort by many people and organizations toward obtaining recognition by the Federal Government for this annual observance.

In the early fall of 1963, Congressman Robert J. Corbett of Pennsylvania and Senator Hugh Scott, also of Pennsylvania, introduced joint resolutions in their respective houses of Congress authorizing the President to designate October 15 of each year as White Cane Safety Day. These resolutions were referred to committees and there languished with no action being taken. In the spring of this year, several of us began to exert pressure on the House Committee, and Congressman E.L. Forrester of Georgia succeeded in having the resolution approved by the Judiciary Committee. It was finally adopted by the House early in August. Senator Dirksen, who chaired the Senate Committee on Resolutions, received many letters from officers and members of organizations of the blind, and as a result the Senate completed congressional action on this resolution.

All of us who are concerned with the nation-wide observance of White Cane Safety Day owe a vote of thanks to Bill Taylor, Jr., of Media, Pennsylvania, for his earnest devotion to this cause. Bill has worked closely with the writer of this article and with other leaders of the organized blind in coordinating the efforts being made. It was he who succeeded in getting the joint resolution introduced into Congress, and it was he who elicited much of the response from constituents. We also owe a debt of gratitude to Congressmen Corbett and Forrester and Senators Scott and Dirksen for their cooperation.

Now that the annual observance of National White Cane Safety Day has been given congressional and presidential sanction, our joint efforts toward educating the public as to the significance of the white cane and the provisions of the white cane laws should be greatly facilitated in the future.

Excellent response from Governors was again obtained this year. Twenty-nine governors sent us either formal beribboned and gold-sealed proclamations or a copy of an official statement by the governor addressed to the citizens of the state. In all of these cases, emphasis was placed upon the white cane laws and the public's responsibility to blind pedestrians. In addition to these, four governors sent us copies of proclamations which they had issued designating a different period, a week or a month, devoted to the white cane. Each of these also mentioned the state's white cane law. Five governors indicated interest in the project, which could have been converted into official action had the organized blind of the state shown sufficient interest. In addition to the above, in at least one state, the governor's Highway Safety Committee sent out releases concerning the white cane laws after the governor referred our letter to them.

The states from which we received the proclamation or the official statement from the governor are as follows Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

*****

** Member of ACB Publications Board Passes

ACB members and friends of Carl Wylie will be saddened to learn that he passed away on Tuesday, November 10, following several strokes and a confinement of two months in the hospital.

Mr. Wylie was a resident of Sarasota, Florida, and had long been active in the Florida Federation of the Blind and especially in the Sarasota Chapter of the FFB. He attended the ACB convention held in Rochester in July of this year and was elected to serve on the Publications Board.

Mrs. Wylie has asked that those of her husband's friends who may wish to make some contribution in his memory may contribute to the Sarasota Chapter of the Florida Federation of the Blind.

*****

** Hyde Park Corner
Conducted by Earl Scharry

Charity Begins on Madison Avenue. We would like to recommend for your enlightenment a book recently brailled in three volumes, The Bargain Hucksters by Ralph Lee Smith. It is a frank expose' of sharp practices in sales and advertising in such fields as encyclopedia sales, home repairs and improvements, automobile sales, Arthur Murray dancing lessons, phony contests, and even funerals. You will learn the facts about those 40 percent fewer cavities in the right half of the class and the so-called endorsement of Crest toothpaste by the American Dental Association. The book gives details and names names. The author says in the introduction: "In some instances the names are those of firms or persons who would have preferred anonymity, and these will be new to you. In other cases the names will be all too familiar, although you may not have known of the abuses in which they have been involved.' In either case you will find the book educational: without a scorecard you can't always tell who's defrauding you.

One chapter in the book deals with charity promotions. We will not attempt here to give all the details, but the author makes the following points:

1. In most charity drives a high percentage of the proceeds are consumed by administrative and fund-raising costs.

2. Charities too often fail to fulfill their duty to disclose to the public how the money contributed is being spent. Often, administrative and fund-raising costs are concealed by shifting them to some other category, such as "health education," or by reporting only the net proceeds from local affiliates, where a great deal of the fund-raising costs accrue.

3. Shady promoters with underworld connections have often taken over charity promotions and have made fortunes for themselves by highly questionable wheeling and dealing.

4. Where the energies and resources of the charity promoters are to be concentrated is too frequently determined more by the salability of the appeal than by the extent of the need. The Bargain Hucksters gives some interesting figures in this connection:

"In 1956 the National Information Bureau reported that cancer and heart disease together caused 68 percent of the deaths in America in a recent year, against one-ninth of one percent for polio. The two national agencies for heart and cancer, however, jointly received about $38,000,000 in 1955, as compared with $66,000,000 for the organizations fighting polio. ... Among the other 'kid in wheel chair' charities is the Muscular Dystrophy Association of America, which raises $5,000,000 a year. There are no more than 200,000 muscular dystrophy victims in the country. The same amount of money, $5,000,000, was raised by the National Association for Mental Health. About nine million persons in America have severe mental illnesses, but mental illness does not involve wheel chairs and is in the PR lingo "a hard product to market."

We have been stimulated by this book to make some interesting observations and deductions of our own about charity and the charitable impulse. In the first place, it appears to us that the public will open its purse strings to just about any appeal that seems to have a nice, lush, sentimental aspect. Any program for the benefit of "kids" is pretty sure to be a winner. The Bargain Hucksters reports an experiment in which folks were induced to contribute readily to a fictitious charity for the benefit of "twinkle-toed children." And "kids in wheel chairs" is an unfailing key to the heart strings and purse strings of the public. The guide dog promoters came up with an unbeatable combination when they parlayed the universal sympathy for the blind with the equally universal love of dogs. Yet the need for funds for guide dogs is very limited. Mr. Smith points out: 

"In some areas, such as publications for the blind, greater activity is much needed. In other areas, such as the training of seeing eye dogs, and the training of blind persons to use them, funds have been solicited far in excess of need. In November of 1958 a highly respected reporting agency made a study of three leading groups working in the seeing eye dog field. Together they had mailed more than 850,000 solicitation letters during the preceding year and had brought in a combined total of $1,670,000. By the time the groups had satisfied the national need for seeing eye dogs and had paid their relatively high fund-raising costs, there was still a surplus of $900,000. In their mailings the groups had failed to tell the public two basic facts: Most people do not want guide dogs, and for those that do, facilities have long exceeded the need. The reporting agency found that the combined campus and training capacity has exceeded the need since 1951, and by 1958 the capacity was 24 percent in excess of dog and student enrollment; but this did not deter the groups from continuing large-scale fund solicitations."

Another conclusion not made by Mr. Smith, but which seems inescapable to us, is that large-scale enterprises for social betterment cannot capture public support unless they promote medical research or engage in the care and cure of victims of physical ailments or provide prosthetic devices. The medical solution is the only solution that is recognized as valid, and if this is not attainable, as is frequently the case, it is assumed that only palliatives remain.

However, in many cases of disability, the damage is as much to the spirit as to the body. One of the goals of ACB, stressed especially by Ned Freeman, has been to help the newly blinded make peace with their disability and make war on the limitations which society has attached to it. Blind people themselves, as well as the public, need to be convinced that medical failure is not ultimate failure. When the victim of a disability is first forced to face up to his situation, his spirit is apt to be crushed by the wall of defeatism which surrounds him. To restore vigor and health to his spirit is certainly as commendable a project as to restore bodily health and vigor, though the means may be different and less dramatic. Even in this materialistic world, the restoration or preservation of independence in spirit is a goal which should be avowed openly and vigorously and can be made to command public support and understanding. 

*****

** Here and There
By George Card

Among the 1,200 books which the guests at a correction institution in Norfolk, Mass., have completed are the Koran, books on abstract mathematics, a telephone directory, a text on mapping in outer space and other books in French, Spanish, German and Russian. To date more than 19,633,000 feet of tape have been recorded.

Xerox, of Rochester, N.Y. has developed a new method of producing any published material in large, clear type. It is claimed this method is much less costly than that now being used. More detailed information can be obtained by writing to this corporation.

During the recent convention of the Florida federation, Dr. Charles Brock and Larry Thompson appeared on a 15-minute WESH-TV show to emphasize the need for the public to pledge their eyes and to advertise the fact that the federation had a special desk set up at the Daytona Plaza so that those who wished to pledge could obtain the necessary forms and information. Forty-six pledges were secured and many inquiries were answered. ... A constitutional amendment to bar blind agency-for-the-blind employees from becoming elected officers in the federation was defeated. ... The Florida White Cane reports that the Miami Lighthouse is under investigation and that the Community Fund has threatened to withdraw its $60,000 a year contribution if thoroughgoing reforms are not instituted. It has been charged that all but three totally blind workers have been eliminated because those with partial sight are more productive.

The HOOSIER STAR-LIGHT announces the appointment of James Haralson as the new principal of the Indiana School for the Blind. Mr. Haralson, who comes from Hermitage, Tenn., formerly taught and coached at the Tennessee School for the Blind.

This morning (Sept. 1) a long-distance call from Delbert Aman of Aberdeen, S.D., ACB board member and program chairman for the Rochester convention, announced the arrival of a second daughter a few hours earlier. The young lady had been scheduled to put in her appearance on the second birthday of little Julie but apparently felt it would be better to have a birthday all to herself so delayed her debut for a few days.

A beloved voice was stilled forever in June. John Knight, who had been reading Talking Book recordings since the middle thirties, departed this earth, the victim of a heart attack. He was only 64 but he had completed the reading of more than 5,000 books, including most of the Bible and all of the works of John Galsworthy. He was also a well-known actor, with more than 100 roles to his credit, and he had been a member of the cast of the very first sponsored radio serial, known as "Snow Village."

Mr. Wesley Osborne of Tacoma, Wash., became the new president of the Washington State Association of the Blind during the recent annual convention of that organization. Mr. Osborne was a famous research chemist and continued much of this work even after a caustic soda explosion destroyed his sight. He is a member of the Advisory Committee to the State Dept. of Public Assistance and for the past six years WSAB's legislative chairman -- securing notable successes in this work. He is the only blind man to hold high office in the national organization of parliamentarians. ... The Washington White Cane reports that six blind girls 14 to 17, attending the public schools in Denver were barred from classes in cookery and that the indignant parents organized private lessons in the homes of two of the mothers.

Ground has been broken for the new residential and training quarters of the Seeing Eye, Inc. Foundation, located much nearer to Morristown. It is expected to be ready for occupancy early next spring. 

Esther Kauffman writes from Fargo: "The first adult summer school session, sponsored by the North Dakota Association of the Blind, was both a success and a failure. The nine who came made excellent progress and all want to return next year. It was a failure in that more did not come. The excellent instructors also expressed a desire to return next time."

A writer in the New Beacon reports that in April of last year a modern mechanized factory was completed in Hong Kong and opened its doors to 162 blind workers, most of whom had received some preliminary training in governmental occupational centers. The building, largely financed from private sources, had taken four years for its construction. During its first 12 months the work force grew to 279, 92 percent blind and 8 percent disabled sighted workers. Wages, fairly low at first, have been steadily rising as production and marketing got into high gear. As the workers acquire skills, they are encouraged and helped to secure competitive employment. Several smoothly functioning departments have already been developed, the largest of which produces wooden boxes and crates. Another manufactures chalk in all colors and of a fine quality. In nine months 17,000 half-gross boxes of chalk were finished and sold. A third department makes plastic buttons on a subcontract basis, and a fourth has already turned out 70,000 brooms and 64,000 brushes. The management has not hesitated to experiment with possible new types of manufacture so as to give employment to still more blind workers. The newest and most promising is the making of a local type of children's shoes and of canvas sandals. The writer calls this semi-sheltered workshop the most interesting project of its kind in all of Asia.

The Missouri Chronicle records the untimely passing on July 7 of a beloved charter member of RITE, Bill Jackson of St. Louis.  Bill was also a charter member of ACB. "He helped to blaze new trails at every level of our organized movement. Yet it was his way of life, his independence, his faith, his gaiety, his love of music and of literature (especially history), and his wish to make some worthwhile contribution to others -- that made him the lovable person we shall always remember. ... Margaret Aldrich, blind and partially deaf, graduated from the Missouri School for the Blind in 1955 and from Webster College in 1959. Precious special training at Perkins made this possible. She recruited and trained 16 volunteers to transcribe braille books to be sent abroad. On Sept. 2 she left for the Belize Mission School in British Honduras to teach blind children how to read these books."

From The Peoriarea Observer: "Dr. Sam Thomas, a practicing pediatrician at St. Luke's Hospital in Chicago, suffered a diabetic hemorrhage in his last remaining eye and became totally blind while driving in traffic. He had been warned that this might happen and had planned what to do. He turned on his signal lights, gradually slowed down the car, eased over to the side of the drive, prayed and waited for the police. They came and rescued him. Instead of giving up, he got a job with the Heart Association. It consists of counting and recording heart beats, which is part of the regular program. ... The Illinois Lions have allocated $63,900 to the Hadley School this year. ... Our center now boasts a unique and extremely useful detailed braille map of Peoria, designed by Art Holst, who got the idea during a trip to Sweden."

When the inspiring but costly mural was placed on the lobby wall of the Christian Record Braille Foundation's new building in Lincoln, Neb., the sighted officials said they knew they really couldn't afford the 20-foot wide and 5-foot high masterpiece, but Hubert Smith of Augusta, Ga. -- as he has done so many times   solved the problem with a generous gift. The dedicatory plaque now beneath the mural reads: "Presented by Ways and Means for the Blind in loving memory of Sarah Francis McKie Smith (his mother) and all other mothers of blind children."

At its annual convention held in San Antonio, Texas, in August, the Blinded Veterans presented its achievement award to Mr. John E. Hodgin of Miami, Fla. A feature of the convention was a panel on the unique problems of the partially blind. In his acceptance address Mr. Hodgin -- who is himself partially blind -- said: "Instead of counseling designed to show us how fortunate we are compared to our more severely handicapped comrades, we need a recognition of our unique problems. Instead of rehabilitation oriented to the totally blinded, we need methods and devices for the particular problems of this half-world. ..."

From Listen: Approximately 1,000 members attended the 1964 national convention of the American Association of Workers for the Blind, held in New York City (immediately following our ACB convention). Employment opportunities for blind persons during the next two decades, the needs of the aging blind and problems concerned with blind children and youth were the focus of attention at general sessions. The last of the five days was devoted to a joint session with the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind. This year's Shotwell Award went to George Keane, assistant director of the Brooklyn Industrial Home, and the Alfred Allen award was presented to Mrs. Ruth Thorp Durnell, field worker for the Delaware Commission for the Blind. ... Louis H, Rives, Jr., chief of the VRA's Division of Services to the Blind since 1959, has been appointed to the new post of program planning consultant in charge of an agency-wide planning unit by Mary F. Switzer, VRA commissioner. ...  A company of blind players described as the first blind repertory group in the country has been performing in New York for the past few years. The Elbee Audio Players give full-length readings of a number of modern plays, including Paddy Chayefsky's 'Marty'; Jean Kerr's 'Mary, Mary'; William Inge's 'Bus Stop' and Lorraine Hansberry's 'A Raisin in the Sun.' Performing without sets, special costumes or special lighting, the players strive to utilize the imagination of their audience in creating the desired dramatic effect."

In the September New Outlook D.C. MacFarland, former head of the Virginia Commission for the Blind (who assumed his position on August 15 as chief, Services for the Blind, Dept. of HEW), reports that no persons are employed in Virginia's two workshops who do not have a second major disability in addition to blindness, but that "today more than 50 percent of our employees in Charlottesville own or are buying their own homes. Their average hourly rate is equal to or better than the adjacent industries which include such notable concerns as General Electric, Sperry Rand, etc. We have not found it necessary to lay off any of our workers for even one day during this six-year period. The shop in Richmond has done equally well." ... Another article reports the results of a recent survey of the visual acuity in the American general population. Slightly more than 50 percent have normal vision without correction. This percentage is increased to more than 75 percent when those needing refraction are included. Men have better unaided vision, both distance and near, than do women. ... The study shows that 466,000 persons in the 18-79 age group alone have less than 20/200 corrected distance vision. ... "The implication is that there is a much larger blind population than previous estimates have suggested. ... Burt L. Risley of Austin, Texas, has been appointed executive secretary-director of the Texas State Commission for the Blind. He took over from Lon E. Alsup on Sept. 1. ... Arthur Keller has been promoted to the position of manager of the Sales Division of the American Foundation, succeeding James Fontaine, who retired on July 1 after 30 years of service to the AFB. ... Also on July 1 Floyd J. McDowell assumed the superintendency of the Montana School for the Deaf and Blind. ... The Reader's Digest is to be avail  able in a large-type edition for an estimated two million partially seeing adults and children in the United States. The new edition will be printed in letters two-and-one-half times larger than normal and will be identical editorially with the regular edition, but will omit advertising. Two volumes will be required to make one regular Digest issue. ... HEW is financing a 30-month project by San Francisco State College to improve the teaching of braille. It is expected that a new textbook for use by teachers of blind persons will result. No comprehensive textbook on braille methods has appeared since 1932."

From the Montana Observer: "It now looks as if our hopes and dreams are finally about to be realized. A budget item for a home teacher has been approved for submission to the next session of our legislature. ... Mr. Aakow Lee, president of the Malaysian Organization of the Blind, was a delightful guest at our Summer School for the Adult Blind. Students and staff enjoyed his accounts of life and conditions in his part of the world. ... 'Information for the Blind Diabetic' -- four records -- may be purchased directly from the American Foundation for the Blind or borrowed from the regional libraries.

"Supt. Everett Wilcox left early in July for his new position as head of the California School for the Blind. He is being succeeded by Mr. Jack Hartong, a former principal at our Jacksonville residential school.

"Judge Frank G.J. McDonagh was elected president of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind at Toronto headquarters last June. He succeeds Ralph S. Misener, president since 1958. ... In the past 20 years the CNIB has assisted over 180 persons to purchase homes. The total amount loaned exceeded $975,0000. The amount outstanding has been reduced to $300,000. There have been no foreclosures and in only two somewhat unusual cases have losses occurred, amounting to approximately $3,000. ... The CNIB lodge on Deep Bay, Bowen Island, is set in a three-acre wooded park with a 400-ft. beach front and provides accommodation for 44 blind persons and their escorts, offering a program of summer sports for active blind persons and facilities for the newly blind to receive adjustment training courses."

The British National Federation of the Blind (which has no international affiliation except a loose one with the World Council) holds what it calls a "delegate conference" once each year. Last summer the site was Edinburgh. The delegates dearly love to debate resolutions. This time 38 were considered. Sessions last only two days and up to now the agenda has included at least one outside speaker. This time one of the resolutions provided that in the future no speakers be invited to interrupt the debate on resolutions. It carried by one vote -- much to the disgust of the editor of Viewpoint, its official publication. 

The 1964 year book of the West Virginia Federation of the Blind reports that its Huntington chapter made a substantial contribution toward the $65,000 cost of erecting a group of homes for the under-privileged and abandoned children of Cahill County. The publication marked the end of the first ten years of the WVFB's existence and featured a splendid tribute to its long-time president, Chris Cerone, who passed away earlier this year. The WVFB was organized largely through the efforts of C.C. White of Huntington and Clyde Ross of Akron, Ohio. 

From Performance: "A blind man is helping his fellow scientists to see more clearly how a computer can plot the exact spot a missile or bomb will land. The innovator who has 'written' several programs for an electronic plotter at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, Calif., is Dr. Ralph W. Middleton. ... Toledo, Ohio became the first city in the Midwest to tie in public housing with special accommodations for the physically handicapped. ..."

From Recording for the Blind Newsletter: "The U.S. Vocational Rehabilitation Administration has given a grant to RFB for a research project entitled 'Development of Raised Line Drawings as Supplementary Tools in the Education of the Blind.' ... The response to a letter written by RFB to the New York Times appealing for volunteer readers was overwhelming. In two days over 400 calls were received. ..."

All the British braille magazines are exulting over a landmark decision in the case of Haley vs. Electricity Corporation of London. The final appeal was heard by the House of Lords and the decision stated that -- while a high degree of care must be exercised by all blind citizens -- those responsible for private or public construction projects on public roads, highways and pedestrian footpaths are under a strict duty to take measures which will afford a reasonable degree of protection to blind pedestrians. This was a complete reversal of previous cases in which it had been held that no such duty existed. The House of Lords panel pointed out that conditions have changed in the past few years and that now a substantial number of blind persons must travel to and fro in the course of their employment.

From the Akron Beacon Journal (October 1): "... Clyde Ross' fellow workers at Goodyear Aerospace Corp. appraised him very highly and a hearty second came from the mayor's committee on Employment of the Handicapped when it bestowed on him its handicapped employee of the year award. When the 3:30 whistle blows to end his workday at GAC, Ross considers that much of his day's work is just beginning. He is in his 15th year as president of the Summit County Society of the Blind. During the years he has overseen its operations, the society has grown from a net worth of $500 to $700,000. He has spent four years trying to get a school for multiple handicapped blind children organized as part of the society's program. Classes in the only school of its kind finally began July 1. ..."

Bud Orrell writes: "The Tennessee federation's credit union was launched at a meeting on October 3 with 25 accounts opened by members; $640 deposited. The Chattanooga chapter voted to close out its loan fund and to deposit its $1,500 in a credit union account. Since our convention, a determined effort has been initiated to build the membership of the TFB. Forty-three new members were voted in by the Board of Directors, bringing total membership in 1964 to 164. A goal of 213 has been set to try to replace California as third in membership voting in ACB. The board voted to ask ACB to sponsor federal legislation requiring that social security payments and disability payments of any sort be considered as exempt earned income in determining the amount of an AB grant rather than as a resource of the recipient."

From the ABC Digest (Calif.): "... For the highly trained blind, computer programming seems to be the coming field, and now there is a course on this at UCLA.   A diabetic cookbook can be obtained for $1 by contacting the American Diabetes Association, Inc., 18 E. 48th St., New York, N.Y. 10017. The cookbook prepared in braille can be obtained for $3.70 per copy from the Reference Dept., Division for the Blind, The Library of Congress, Washington 25, D.C. ... Miss Carolyn House, Olympic swimming champion, has been selected as the 1964 recipient of the special National Association of the Visually Handicapped award, which recognizes outstanding leadership by a visually handicapped person. She set a new world record in 1960 in the 1500-meter freestyle. In 1961 she won three national championships in the 200-, 400- and 1500-meter freestyle and in 1962 set a new world record in the 800- and 1500-meter freestyle. ... Always keep an open mind -- and it's more sanitary if you change it once in a while."

From the Florida White Cane Bulletin: "The assets of the FFB Federal Credit Union are in excess of $125,000. ... The Council for the Blind is moving from Tampa to Tallahassee. ... A state-wide organization of the parents of blind children has now been organized in Florida. ... R. Clifford Blair of Tampa is one of the few blind licensed embalmers anywhere. ... The FFB has realized more than $800 as its share from its Permaglo light bulb sales this year. ... Science for the Blind, Haverford, Pa. 19041, will supply free of charge to any blind person interested a loose-leaf notebook, filled with braille notations and tables, including four-place logarithms, trigonometric functions, hyperbolic and exponential relations, a table of integrals, atomic element tables, etc. As additional material is prepared, sheets are sent to those who have requested the book. ..."

From the Nebraska Observer: "An electric computer, worth $2 million, was donated recently to the American Printing House for the Blind. The computer, a gift from the International Business Machines Corp., will translate ink print into braille at the rate of more than 1,000 words a minute. ... A small boy explained a broken window to a policeman thus: 'I was cleaning my slingshot and it went off.' ... Mr. Don Baumgarner has resigned as rehabilitation program director. Mr. Larry Lorrezen has taken over his duties."

Dr. Everett E. Wilcox, newly installed superintendent of the California School for the Blind, writes to the Illinois Messenger: "Until hunting season begins, 8 deer graze on the athletic field because the Berkeley Hills are so dry this year."

The passage by both Houses of Congress of Joint Resolution 753, and the consequent proclamation by President Johnson setting October 15 of each year from now on as White Cane Safety Day, was due in no small part to the untiring efforts of Bill Taylor, blind lawyer of Media, Pa., Ernest Tiffany, a dedicated Lion from Jamestown, N.Y., and of our own ACB president -- reinforced by a great many letters and telegrams from ACB organizations and individual members.

*****

** ACB Officers and Directors

President: Ned E. Freeman, 136 Gee's Mill Rd., Conyers, Ga. 30207 
1st Vice President: Durward K. McDaniel, Suite 305 Midwest Bldg., Oklahoma City 2, Oklahoma 73102 
2nd Vice President: David Krause, 4628 Livingston Rd., SE, Washington, D.C. 20032 
Secretary: Mrs. Alma Murphey, 4103 Castleman Ave., St. Louis 10, Missouri
Treasurer: Reese H. Robrahn, 210 Crawford Building, Topeka, Kansas 66603

** Directors

* Directors Until 1966:

George Card, 605 S. Few Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53703 
Delbert K. Aman, 929 South 2nd St., Aberdeen, South Dakota
G. Paul Kirton, Room 6327, Department of the Interior, Washington 25, D.C.
Mrs. Marie M. Boring, 1113 Camden Avenue, Durham, North Carolina 27701

* Directors Until 1968:

F. Winfield Orrell, 5209 Alabama Avenue, Chattanooga, Tenn. 37409
Mrs. Mary Jane Hills, 33 1/2 Edmonds St., Rochester, New York 14607
R.L. Thompson, 104 West Hanlon St., Tampa, Florida 33604
Fred C. Lilley, 53 1/2 West Jackson, Chicago, Illinois

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