The unheard cry

Preface

Six months ago the author of this little volume had not thought of attempting to write a book. The decision to do so came about not long since as the result of his receiving hundreds of encouraging letters from all over the Nation in response to a series of articles by him on the need of education for the crippled which appeared in several of the leading newspapers of the South last winter and spring. The greater number of these letters were written by thinking people — preachers, professors, politicians, and parents — who invariably admitted that they had never thought of the matter in the light shown to be true by the articles mentioned. Therefore, in this book the author has made an effort to portray the real and unjust conditions under which the Cripples exist to-day. No attempt, however, has been made to play upon the sympathy by relating touching stories of the trying ordeals undergone by those passing under the rod. Just an earnest plea is offered, supplemented by a few facts that ought to open the eyes of the American people to the magnitude and effect of their most disgraceful neglect. In publishing this book no desire is entertained for literary glory, but, instead, the author hopes that a favorable response may be had relative to agitating the adoption of some sort of educational system for the physically handicapped, which is so sorely needed for the purpose of clearing away the many almost insurmountable obstacles that confront them in every direction.

Contents

Page.

The Voice of Nature 28

Who Loves the Cripple ? 42

Part I. The Unheard Cry

CRIES have ascended from everywhere since the creation of man, and most of them have been heard and answered. The first cry recorded was that which swelled the bosom and burst forth from the soul of Adam for a mate. It was answered in the form of Eve. The next cry that found a hearty response was that of Abel in the Garden of Eden. "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground," said God to Cain as He justly inflicted the severe punishment upon the murderous brother in answer to the cry of Abel's spilled blood. Jesus upon the cross cried out in His agony unto God and asked if He had been forsaken. The earth trembled, the temple tottered and the rocks were rent in answer to the last cry of the Crucified One. And so on down through the vistas of time countless cries have constantly ascended to the Almighty One who has ever been willing and ready to answer.

It is a God-given characteristic of mankind to answer the cry that reaches the ear and the heart. It was in response to the cry of the hungry and the homeless that Solon of Athens restored the Democracy to his people. It was the cry of the pirate-fearing seamen and traders for a safe route to India that caused and encouraged Columbus to brave the dangers of the unknown seas and to endure the many privations of a voyage that led to the discovery of the New World. It was the courageous cry for independence that gave birth to this Nation. And it was a similar cry that resulted in the freedom of the American Slave. The advanced progress of the age is but the material answer to the cry of humanity's needs.

Therefore history will justify the assertion that no worthy and well-founded cry has ever been offered in vain. For God and Man have always been eager to still the cries of the censured, of the condemned, and of the suffering by removing the cause.

It is upon the mercy of the Almighty and the love and unselfishness of humanity that the hope for recognition and response of every cry is based. Thus the prime object of a just cry is to make itself heard.

But, however, deafened by the din and disturbance in the maddened race for riches, the world has not yet heard a certain cry that has ascended for years and years — one that has unfortunately died upon the threshold of recognition. The cry of the Cripple has been drowned by the clamor of the other classes, and, as a result, the whole world, and especially avaricious America, is overflowing with an army of distorted, disabled, and incapacitated pilgrims, who, as a class, are recognized by the public in general as superfluous humanity. Unfortunately, such recognition and regard are well founded, inasmuch as there are but few exceptions.

It does not require a statesman nor even a utilitarian to delve into the cause of the cry of this pitiable class of people, conspicuous everywhere for their uselessness and helplessness, and make it known to the world. Neither does it take a great politician or preacher to probe the matter and then preach a remedy.

As in everything else, it demands one who has had personal experience — one who knows the pangs of pain — one who has sat unnoticed by the wayside and watched the world go marching by in triumph, realizing at the time that his physical handicap added to his untrained mind prevented his going with the pompous procession — one who is sensitive to the excruciating torture inflicted by the daggers of discouragement and defeat, which deadly weapons are constantly sharpened by the unjust conditions allowed to exist by the thoughtless people of Christian America.

In his troubled heart, he who occupies this unenviable, uncomfortable, unnoticed, and almost unbearable position alongside of this swarming, hustling thoroughfare of progress and success knows full well that were he educated and his God-given talent trained he would be able to join the rank and file and would keep pace with the rear guards, anyhow. Moreover, he realizes that his inability to enlist in this swiftly marching army of nation builders is due not so much to his helplessness, physically, as to his worthlessness, educationally, which latter deficiency is the direct cause of the unheard and unanswered cry of which we speak — the cry of the Cripple.

In every village and every hamlet and every town and every city scattered broadcast over this country lectures by master minds are delivered on the necessity and the value of education, and especially the so-called Christian education. Statistics are read and quoted to the eagerly attentive audiences, showing conclu- 2 17 sively what per cent, of the college graduates succeed in the activities of life in comparison with the meager success attained by those who are denied such thorough education. Special and complimentary mention is made of the forty-odd State universities, which in reality represent the galaxy of stars on our flag. The different religious denominations are highly and eloquently praised for their continuous and successful efforts along the line of establishing and maintaining great educational institutions in which millions of young folks will receive their mental culture in the years to come. These lecturers do not forget the deserved praise of the many millionaires who have endowed with countless millions numerous colleges and universities that bear their names.

These same speakers take the opportunity to tell of the millions of dollars expended annually for the education of the heathen in distant lands. A vivid picture of the miserable conditions of savagery is painted upon the imagination of the audience by the brush of eloquence in the hands of an orator. As a specific example of proof of the helpful value of education to a heathen, they narrate in glowing language how some poor uncivilized being has been rescued from the bondage of an indescribable slavery in the land of the Cannibals and brought to America to be clothed and taught and cared for in the most tender and beneficial way; how he has grasped the opportunities ofifered and learned the beauties of Western civilization and returned to the land of his nativity to teach his poor brothers the way to an eternal life.

In short, they call attention to the cry of heathendom and echo it upon the highways, in the churches, on the streets, and everywhere in order that the people, who are more than willing and ready to stretch forth an arm of assistance, may hear it and respond. The result is that thousands of souls are being beautified and saved in all parts of the uncivilized world.

Moreover, these mighty advocates of learning and Christianity plead for the education of the Negro, the Dumb, the Deaf, the Blind, and so on, and echo their respective cries for due consideration. The result is always what is desired and demanded.

But a cry that is feeble to begin with — a plaintive and pleading cry that is never stilled but always drowned by the deafening turmoil of the world — a cry whose sound has entered but few attentive ears and awakened a response — the cry of the Cripples, among whom are our brothers and sisters, our neighbors and unfortunate friends and acquaintances, our own flesh and blood — still ascends unheard and unanswered.

Do we feel that it would be wasting time and money to educate the Cripples and at the same time feel that we are doing God's wishes by sacrificing lives and expending vast sums of money humanizing the heathen at the neglect of our own home ? Or do we believe that we ought to lend help where help is needed and that no assistance is due the Cripples, inasmuch as they are useless to the commonwealth and repulsive to society? Are our thoughts so deluded as to prompt us to believe that we are doing the right thing when we shut our ears to the pleading of this particular class of unfortunates at our very door and allow our charitable and philanthropic proclivities to exercise such freedom as will touch and benefit lands unknown and unseen ? How shall we expect to find justification for letting a person of our own locality, who possesses the brain of a genius but is deprived of the use of his limbs, linger on the roadside in the shade and rest and rust and hunger and beg and die in poverty, obscurity, without having had a single chance to realize the possibilities of life, while we devote our time, trouble, and money in trying to educate and help the millions of heathen who are blessed with strength and health and most times happiness ? Do we not feel that Right and Justice demand that some provision must be made whereby crippled children may have an opportunity to obtain an education ? Is it not sound to reason that if an education is essential to the welfare and success of the child blessed with the greatest blessings of God — normal physique and strength — it is a thousand times more necessary for a child deprived of many of these blessings ?

Think for a moment of the pathetic and pitiable condition of the physically handicapped persons who are uneducated — cut off from most of the amusements and pleasures of youth ; burdens to their folks and friends; assisted from place to place, perhaps by unwilling hands; objects of pity and sometimes of aversion; their untutored minds and uncultured manners made the subject of jest and ridicule ; without hope, happiness, or encouragement, seemingly forgotten of heaven, their lot is, indeed, lamentable and miserable beyond description. But education changes this. The light of knowledge fills the soul, quickens the perception, exercises the higher faculties, unfolds and develops the entire nature, and thus the crippled fellow becomes the equal of his more fortunate brothers and sisters. But that is not all; it does vastly more — it refines the manners, does away with oddities and peculiarities; it encourages hope, awakens ambition, and teaches and enables him to earn his own bread and to know what independence means.

The person who has never paused to think may casually remark that the Cripple can attend the same schools that the normal students attend, which schools are numbered in the thousands. But such is not the case. It is true, if a Cripple is floundering in the flufify wings of the eagle, if he has a rich father or inheritance, he can attend one of these great universities, built and designed for those bodily perfect and not for the convenience and accommodation of the weak and imperfect one, by employing an attendant and defraying the doubled expense incurred on every hand on account of his afflictions. He will get along tolerably well — well enough in many instances to graduate at the head of his class. But, on the other hand, take the countless thousands of poor, almost helpless boys and girls, who compose the young but growing army of physical unfortunates, and among whom are many whose light of intellect would illumine the day if ignited by proper and necessary training and cultivation — take them for an example, and it will be seen that they are unable even to get a glimpse of the exterior of one of these numerous colleges — many times not so much on account of their physical shortcomings as on account of their shortness of finances.

Yes, there are thousands and thousands of young boys and girls in this country who are pining in the regions where the clouds of affliction and adversity swing threateningly low and who proudly possess talents and ambitions for professions that necessitate college education. They are burdens to themselves as well as to those around them, so to speak, because they have at the present no real hope of ever receiving an opportunity to realize fully their natural capabilities and their cherished dreams. Why ? Simply because the kind and sympathetic people of the Churches and other organizations have so far failed to see the need of the Cripple. The terrible oversight is due to the fact that the world has not heard their cry.

Thus the cry of the Cripple is no more, no less than an earnest and pathetic plea for a chance to make up for the physical deficiency by coming into possession of a thorough and practical mental training — the only exigency by which one so situated may cope successfully with the adversities and obstacles that confront one. In other words, the courageous Cripple makes a plea to-day for help in order that he may help himself to-morrow; and this plea, which has so long gone forth from the heart and the soul of him, is for a system of education which will provide for his imperative needs and eventually liberate him from his bondage of ignorance and helplessness.

Such a system of education has been provided for every class of human unfortunates except the Cripples.

But the time is fast coming when the ears of the public will hear and the eyes will see and the hearts will be touched and the hands will be outstretched toward them who have been so long neglected. And when this not distant day comes, these handicapped boys and girls shall be educated in such manner and on such lines as will be best suited to their physical conditions and mental capabilities; they shall be trained to utilize to the fullest degree those members that are normal. The education that shall be given them will be such as to enable them to face the future confidently and fearlessly, to shake their fists at defeat and discouragement.

And in that future day, when the wild voices of clamor and of avarice that now fill the air are hushed, when memory shall review this disgraceful period of history that records the utter neglect of the strong brother toward his weak brother, when the phantom forms of those thousands of maimed and marred young folks that were compelled to fill potter's graves because of no way of support appear before the mind's eye, when the unjust conditions have changed and the prophecies are fulfilled and the burning question, "AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?" is written in blazing letters upon the face of the Heavens — when that day comes, the people who refused to turn a deaf ear any longer to the cry of the Cripple will experience no compunction of conscience, nor will they feel guilty of the crime.

THE VOICE OF NATURE.

WHERE there is life there is also the Voice of God. By life, human life alone is not meant, but the life of the lower creations as well. The trees, the flowers, all vegetation, serve as a medium of transmission for the Almighty Voice to the soul of man. In short, the mysterious Voice that conveys to us through Nature lessons and sermons of infinite worth is one of the greatest manifestations of God.

The beautiful revelations of Nature, through which the great Voice cries unto us with such force and conviction, enable us to choose our course and to follow it. They reveal to us the hidden beauties and latent possibilities of humanity and teach us to strive for a life worth while.

However, before we may obtain the full benefit of these Nature sermons or lessons, our minds must be in a receptive state, our hearts must be open to conviction, and our souls must be in tune with the Infinite. For when we are in this condition the Voice is not inaudible nor does it speak in vain.

As a potential proof of this irrefutable assertion regarding the unfathomable powers of Nature's preaching, it will be pardonable to make mention of an actual experience that befell a certain young person whose whole course was consequently changed, insomuch that his aim in life became an irresistible determination to alleviate a deplorable condition that has so long confronted one particular class of unfortunates — the Cripples.

This experience came to him in the garb of Nature and spoke to him in language sublime. It was while he was a boy in his teens that he chanced to linger in an orchard one day and commune with Nature in her visible form. His attention was drawn by one particular peach tree, the sight of which not only seemed to teach him a beautiful lesson, but also seemed to encourage him to throw off a yoke of melancholy and to determine to live a life of usefulness, notwithstanding the bondage of affliction by which he was helplessly and hopelessly enthralled. In a potent and convincing way this little tree assured him that it had been left by Providence in the orchard as an emblem of encouragement — as a specific proof that everything, everybody has a niche, a mission, to fill and by so doing perfects the Divine Plan that much.

Probably he was the only one with whom it ever did converse — matters little for that — but it certainly did preach to him a wonderful sermon fraught with the lessons of the Infinite, of the good, and of the possibilities of life.

Although its language was superb, it was not the prettiest and most symmetrical tree in the bunch ; instead, it was the most crooked — the ugliest. But woven about it was a short and simple history which to most persons will appear superficial and of no interest whatever ; but to those who are burdened with countless infirmities and confronted by manifold discouragements it will seem as a message of cheer from the Almighty and as an inspiration from Heaven. Yes, it will shine as a beckoning star in the galaxy of hope !

Its history was something like this : About five years previous this tree, a twiglike sprout, was trampled on by some horses that broke into the orchard. No attention was paid to it, as every one thought it would die. The Spring following a man was employed to plant the orchard in corn. He was careful not to injure the trees while ploughing near them. When he came to the little peach tree heretofore badly neglected and mistreated, he evinced the same care and attention. A bystander told the old man he need not lose any time trying to save the sprout, adding: "It is of no account, anyway." The old and thoughtful farmer retorted: "All it needs is a little help, so it can help itself ; because it is bent and broken is no sign it will never bear fruit. Why, Sir, it has never had even a half show!" He proceeded to straighten the little twiglike tree up and put fresh soil around its illy nurtured and feeble roots, leaving it in excellent condition. It was left alone. It grew.

And on the day this Nature Sermon was delivered to the heart and soul of this particular person whose whole life was changed as a result of his knowledge of the tree's history he sat beneath its beneficent boughs bending with peaches plentiful and leaves luxuriant — sat in silence, in solemn and serious contemplation, while a weighty, worthy, and beautiful lesson was unfolded to him. It was weighty because it was constituted of so much truth ; it was worthy because of its power and pathos; it was beautiful because of its simplicity.

The Great Voice spoke in convincing tones, and, in efifect, showed that, notwithstanding the fact that the little tree had never had an equal chance with the others, being gnarled and twisted and bent almost to the earth, it had grown and developed and become under innumerable difficulties and backsets the most profitable tree in the orchard — its peaches being those large and luscious Elbertas that have made Arkansas famous — all because a thoughtful, sympathetic man had "helped it to help itself" when it was a weakling struggling to survive and overcome the onslaught of every imaginable force in the category.

True, its form was not beautiful to behold, but its fruit was as juicy and delicious as could be had in any clime. Anyhow, what cared he for its external appearance when its internal sweetness was so prevalent in the flavor of the peaches ?

The Voice did not speak in vain. A concomitant of the very interesting and important lesson flooded his mind and touched him deeply. Of all he had seen and learned of the wonderful development and success of the little crippled and apparently worthless tree, he made an ap-

3 33 plication to humanity — that portion which is, and has always been, pining in the regions where the clouds of affliction and neglect hang low.

The application was made in the nature of a simple simile :

As this particular weak and bent tree was nurtured and given a chance to grow and develop into a productive one instead of dying slowly or becoming a worthless bunch of branches, so likewise might the Cripple or physically helpless be given a consideration, an education, a chance to become self-supporting and a contributor to the wealth, peace, and happiness of the commonwealth, instead of being compelled to grow into a mentally ossified and physically atrophied being with a crown of ignorance and a yoke of sorrow to burden him down upon the shoulders of Charity — the most stinging and sarcastic of all donors to a helpless but proud recipient !

And again :

As the fruit of a gnarled and twisted tree is made pure, sweet, and wholesome by culture, so the life, deeds, and labors of an unfortunately deformed person might be made noble, helpful, and worth while by just and proper training !

The Voice continued to speak and explain that the tree had but one chance to redeem itself in the eyes of the owner, and that single chance lay in the possibility of its bearing good fruit. Of course it could have had no hopes of being permitted to remain in the orchard on account of its symmetry and the beauty it would lend to the surroundings.

So likewise it is with the Cripple — the only chance of redeeming his deplorable condition and thereby becoming an enthusiastic and happy being, regardless of the foiling of fate, is to bear good fruit, to do something worth while — in other words, to utilize his brain for the betterment of mankind and the glory of God. For, as a matter of fact, his only chance of real success lies there.

i

The Voice still continued to speak and explain that God has given man but three things that can be used to sustain life — muscle, brain, and honor. The first two are the only ones intended as commodities — necessity and despotism have forced the last and highest on the market. Muscle and brain, unlike honor, are to an overwhelming degree the products of careful and considerable training and cultivation. Therefore, inasmuch as they have to be trained and cultivated that physical strength and mental power may be attained for the utility and welfare of any individual, how shall even an able-bodied person accomplish the tasks of life without a partial training of one or both of these natural blessings ?

Thus it is an evident fact that with those who are physically handicapped, incapable, the muscle proposition is a dead issue and that of mentality alone remains. Then a thorough and modern mental training is absolutely necessary for the self-maintenance of the Cripple — his only hope.

The Voice went on and proved that the casual passersby would have looked with disgust had some one asserted that within five years the little sprout which was distorted and broken would bear the best fruit in the orchard. It took the healing powers and convincing conditions of Nature five years to prove her truth to the world. To think that Nature in all her powers could not remedy the faults of the tree's physique would be to doubt the omnipotence of the Creator.

Therefore the reckless, unwarranted, and unscientific classifying of the Cripple with the feeble-minded, with the criminal, with the delinquent, with the insane, with the dependent, as a useless, superfluous human who exists in misery and neglect and sorrow only for the purpose of intensifying the displeasures and irritating the feelings of the normal man or woman with whom he is constantly thrown, is a grave injustice to a deserving and noble class of humanity and a damnable disgrace to civilization and Christianity.

This sort of classification is the only kind that the Cripple has ever received. From time immemorial he has been regarded as worthless, as one of a class that the world would be better off without.

If this apparently bold assertion be untrue, then why have not the thousands and thousands of unfortunate boys and girls who have been maimed by causes beyond their control been shown the same courtesy and extended the same hand whose strong grasp has pulled more than one hundred thousand deaf mutes and over two hundred thousand blind persons from the ditch of despair in the past two generations in this Nation?

To-day we have more than one hundred schools maintained by the various States and by organizations for the education and industrial training of the deaf, dumb, and blind. Thousands of useful citizens have been graduated from these institutions and sent out into the world equipped to fight successfully for existence. Every State provides for the education of such an afflicted one, be he the child of a millionaire or the offspring of a tie-hacker.

While, on the other hand, we have approximately one-half million crippled and deformed persons, many of whom are occupying high and honored positions in public as well as private life, but more of whom are dependent upon some relative, occupants of some charitable institution, or peddlers of shoestrings and beggars on the corner. Yet there is no institution that will take the poverty-stricken ones from this great and rapidly increasing army of unfortunates and educate them in arts and sciences suited to their physical conditions and mental capabilities. If the deaf, the dumb and the blind are worth saving in their awful conditions of helplessness, why are not the paralytics, the hunchbacks, the rheumatics, and so on, worth the saving?

The Cripples that have money and well-to-do folks usually obtain a chance to help themselves and invariably do so.

But all over our fair America there are scattered among the hills and the valleys, in the congested districts and slums of the large cities, in the outskirts of little towns and villages, thousands upon thousands of little boys and girls with twisted and deformed bodies but sunny dispositions and wonderful minds, too poor to go to the public schools and in most instances unable to get to the schools, who are daily longing and hoping and praying for an opportunity to get an education in some trade or profession which will enable them to become self-supporting in after years and which will prevent their finally going to the poorhouse and later being laid at rest in the dreaded Potter's Field.

Again the Voice that seemed to preach so powerfully to this boy in the midst of the f ruit-ladened trees asked, so it would seem : "Who would have thought the injured tree was worth saving if it were believed that God would deny it the same mission or purpose with which He fills the others of its kind, just because it happens to the ill luck of getting injured ?"

So the question that ought to attack the mind of every American citizen is: "Has God quit furnishing the Cripples with talents and missions? Has He begun to let beings come into the world purposeless, without a brain worth training, without a body worth caring for, without a heart worth cheering, without a chance to cope with the adverse forces, without a soul worth beautifying and saving?"

If He has, then we might afford to neglect the welfare of the maimed and suffering; but if He has not, if He still gives to each being an object in life, it is our bounden duty and trust reposed in us to care for them and to see that they have "help in order that they may help themselves" to become living, pulsating entities in this world of activities.