s blind. The special
teacher trains the memory of her pupils to the highest possible degree,
impressing upon them that their minds are vast storehouses in which to
keep all sorts of knowledge tucked away for future use, and that it is
disastrous to blind children to forget. In mental arithmetic, they
usually lead the class. Their presence in the school is of the greatest
help to the others with whom they work in class. Their success in
overcoming difficulties is a stimulus to the pride and an incentive to
the ambition of the seeing child. The presence of the blind children is
a constant reminder to them of their superior physical advantages, and
they are ashamed to have them outstrip them, as they so often do, in
intellectual work. And so the presence of the blind child is sure to
result in untold good, not only to the child so handicapped, but to the
entire school, removing as it must, the belief, now, alas, so general,
that when eyesight is lost, all is lost. Trained side by side with its
sighted companions, doing the same work as well, if not better, the
later success of the young blind seeker after knowledge is practically
assured; for, as I have said, in mental attainment, at least, the blind
child is the peer of the child with eyesight,--here, beyond cavil, the
chances are equal.

To my mind, the coeducation of the blind and seeing is a step in the
right direction--a very forward step, since it will ultimately bridge
the gulf of misconception and skepticism now separating these two
classes--a gulf which must be bridged if we hope to arrive at a sane and
satisfactory solution of the problem of finding employment, not only for
the returned blind soldiers, but for the thousands of intelligent blind
men and women who are waiting eagerly, hungrily, for a chance to prove
their ability, a chance to earn their daily bread. When blind and seeing
children are trained side by side, from the kindergarten, through the
grades into high school, and on to college, perhaps, the barriers
dissolve, the blind boy and the seeing boy are comrades--they have
played together, worked together, and together they have planned their
future. The seeing boy knows the blind boy will succeed because he has
seen him victorious in many a mental skirmish. Just this May, right here
in the University at Berkeley, a blind student graduated fourth in a
class of more than one thousand seeing students. It may be interesting
to note, in passing, that ther