operation we depend. We have referred to them 41 pupils in the course of the year, and they in turn have reported to us 18 persons wishing for our attention. In addition, the commission employs when necessary, for supervision of special orders for knitting or sewing and for the teaching of new patterns, a special teacher, who goes to the blind workers in their homes.1 BROADER INDUSTRIES. Since, however, the field for such household industries must always be limited, the commission from the first have sought larger opportunities for the adult blind, and they have done this mainly in four directions (1) by finding openings for persons without sight to work in company and on substantially equal terms with the seeing; (2) by training the blind for industries which they may carry on, singly or in groups, in shops maintained by themselves; (3) by establishing workshops wherein the blind, under seeing supervision, may produce in large quantities articles which find a ready sale in the open market, not because they are made by the blind, but because they are intrinsically excellent; and (4) by making loans of tools, material or other substantial assets to blind men, through which to establish themselves or to tide over some peculiarly difficult situation in their efforts to be self-supporting. Opportunities to work with the Seeing. The task of finding openings to work in association with the seeing is always difficult, because of the belief of most employers that blind persons cannot work as well as those with sight, and because of the not unnatural fear that, because of lack of sight, the workers may receive injury for which the employer will be held accountable. The endeavor to secure such opportunities, has, moreover, been peculiarly unfruitful during the past year because of the fact that most employers have been reducing rather than increasing their working force. Nevertheless, at the present time there are blind men who, through efforts of our industrial department, are working side by side with the seeing, in five different lines of industry. 1 For a summary of the work of the department of home work, see Appendix A. Training Classes. In developing the second plan, that of educating blind men for occupations which they may ultimately carry on by themselves, the commission have established in Cambridge and in Pittsfield classes in cobbling, broom making, chair seating (cane, pith and rush), mattress making and joinery; and already graduates of these classes are carrying on these trades in their own homes, with good results. In the belief, however, that greater success will come when a small group of such men, known to their locality, work together, the commission have established in Lowell and in Worcester small shops, supervised in both cases by blind men, and helped by the commission only to the extent of rental, general oversight of accounts, and such stimulus as the Board may give through the employment of solicitors or the enlisting of individual helpers. As opportunities and means allow, it is the plan of the commission to establish other local centers where needed, and to endeavor to awaken to the fullest degree local interest in, and patronage of, the efforts of blind men and women native to such city or town.' The Cambridge Workshops. The largest single undertaking of the commission is in carrying out the third means of making the adult blind self-supporting. This is through the establishing of workshops, wherein the blind are regularly employed in the making of standard articles, which the commission undertake to market directly through their own salesrooms, and indirectly through large jobbing or retail houses. The industries thus maintained are: (1) a shop for weaving the "Cambridge" rugs and tapestries, which gives regular employment to 9 blind men as weavers, and to 2 blind women as finishers; (2) a shop for the manufacture of the "Wundermop" (invented by a blind man, to whom the commission pay a royalty), which employs 4 blind men and 1 blind woman; (3) a shop for the weaving of art fabrics, which gives employment to 12 women, all without sight; and (4) a shop for the making of factory and track brooms (the latter being the invention of the blind man who invented the "Wundermop"), which employs three blind men.2 1 See the special report of the deputy superintendent of industries, Appendix C. For details of this work, see the report of the superintendent of the industrial depart· ment, Appendix B. The products of these shops are maintained at the highest standard of quality, and are sold wholly upon their merits. One of the chief activities of the commission has been in endeavoring to educate the public to understand that the blind can produce articles of superior workmanship; and their aim is so to extend the market for these goods that they may eventually give employment, without marked increase over the present cost of supervision, to a much larger number of blind men and women. They are greatly encouraged by the fact that, notwithstanding the severe industrial depression, the sales of these products have increased during 1908 from $12,150 to $16,870; that leading firms in Boston, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Albany, Springfield, etc., are large buyers of the rugs; that the school department of the city of New York has specified the "Wundermop" in its annual contract for supplies; and that some of the leading railroads of the country are buyers of these mops. For the extension of their market the commission are greatly indebted to the untiring efforts of Mr. George S. Mansfield of Malden, who has undertaken this difficult work in the most generous and unselfish spirit. Loans. In the matter of loans the commission have during 1908 given assistance as follows: 1. Equipment: (1) Tools, etc., for trade: a. Loans continued from 1906 to 1907, b. Loans granted in 1907-08, (2) Braille writers, typewriters, etc.: a. Loans continued from 1906 to 1907, b. Loans granted in 1907-08, (3) Poultry-raising outfits, etc., continued from 1906 to 1907, 3 2. Materials for trade, stock, etc., for store, . 11 3. Printing, rent, transportation, etc., connected with business undertakings, Continued from 1906 to 1907, Granted in 1907-08, . 14 33 47 Of all such loans the commission secures proper legal acknowledgment, and in the case of tangible property the ownership |