“For writing, a ruler is used, consisting of a metal bed either grooved or marked by groups of little pits, each group consisting of six; over this bed is fitted a brass guide, punched with oblong holes whose vertical diameter is three-tenths of an inch, while the horizontal diameter is two-tenths. The pits are arranged in two parallel lines, and the guide is hinged on the bed in such a way that when the two are locked together the openings in the guide correspond exactly to the pits in the bed. The brass guide has a double row of openings, which enables the writer to write two lines; when these are written, he shifts his guide downwards until two little pins, which project from the under surface at its ends, drop into corresponding holes of a wooden board; then two more lines are written, and this operation is repeated until the bottom of the page is reached. The paper is introduced between the frame and the metal bed. The instrument for writing is a blunt awl, which carries a little cap of paper before it into the grooves or pits of the bed, thereby producing a series of little pits in the paper on the side next the writer. When taken out and turned over, little prominences are felt, corresponding to the pits on the other side. The reading is performed from left to right, consequently the writing is from right to left; but this reversal presents no practical difficulty as soon as the pupil had caught the idea that in reading and writing alike he has to goforwards.“The first ten letters, from ‘a’ to ‘j,’ are formed in the upper and middle grooves; the next ten, from ‘k’ to ‘t,’ are formed by adding one lower back dot to each letter of the first series; the third row is formed from the first by adding two lower dots to each letter; the fourth row, similarly, by adding one lower front dot.“The first ten letters, when preceded by the prefix for numbers, stand for the nine numbers and the cipher. The same signs, written in the lower and middle grooves, instead of the upper and middle, serve for punctuation. The seven last letters of each series stand for the seven musical notes—the first series representing quavers, the second minims, the third semibreves, the fourth crotchets. Rests, accidentals, and every other sign used in music can be readily and clearly expressed without having recourse to the staff of five lines which forms the basis of ordinary musical notation, and which, though it has been reproduced tor the blind, can only be considered as serving to give them an idea of the method employed by the seeing, and cannot, of course, be written. By means of this dotted system, a blind man is able to keep memoranda or accounts, write his own music, emboss his own books from dictation, and carry on correspondence.”
“For writing, a ruler is used, consisting of a metal bed either grooved or marked by groups of little pits, each group consisting of six; over this bed is fitted a brass guide, punched with oblong holes whose vertical diameter is three-tenths of an inch, while the horizontal diameter is two-tenths. The pits are arranged in two parallel lines, and the guide is hinged on the bed in such a way that when the two are locked together the openings in the guide correspond exactly to the pits in the bed. The brass guide has a double row of openings, which enables the writer to write two lines; when these are written, he shifts his guide downwards until two little pins, which project from the under surface at its ends, drop into corresponding holes of a wooden board; then two more lines are written, and this operation is repeated until the bottom of the page is reached. The paper is introduced between the frame and the metal bed. The instrument for writing is a blunt awl, which carries a little cap of paper before it into the grooves or pits of the bed, thereby producing a series of little pits in the paper on the side next the writer. When taken out and turned over, little prominences are felt, corresponding to the pits on the other side. The reading is performed from left to right, consequently the writing is from right to left; but this reversal presents no practical difficulty as soon as the pupil had caught the idea that in reading and writing alike he has to goforwards.
“The first ten letters, from ‘a’ to ‘j,’ are formed in the upper and middle grooves; the next ten, from ‘k’ to ‘t,’ are formed by adding one lower back dot to each letter of the first series; the third row is formed from the first by adding two lower dots to each letter; the fourth row, similarly, by adding one lower front dot.
“The first ten letters, when preceded by the prefix for numbers, stand for the nine numbers and the cipher. The same signs, written in the lower and middle grooves, instead of the upper and middle, serve for punctuation. The seven last letters of each series stand for the seven musical notes—the first series representing quavers, the second minims, the third semibreves, the fourth crotchets. Rests, accidentals, and every other sign used in music can be readily and clearly expressed without having recourse to the staff of five lines which forms the basis of ordinary musical notation, and which, though it has been reproduced tor the blind, can only be considered as serving to give them an idea of the method employed by the seeing, and cannot, of course, be written. By means of this dotted system, a blind man is able to keep memoranda or accounts, write his own music, emboss his own books from dictation, and carry on correspondence.”
The Braille system for literature and music was brought into general use in England by Dr T.R. Armitage. Through his wise,untiring zeal and noble generosity, every blind man, woman and child throughout the English-speaking world can now obtain not only the best literature, but the best music.
In America there are two modifications of the point type, known as New York point and American braille. In each of these the most frequently recurring letters are represented by the least number of dots.
The original Braille is used by the institutions for the blind in the British empire, European countries, Mexico, Brazil and Egypt.
Appliances for Educational Work
The apparatus for writing point alphabets has already been described. Frank H. Hall, former superintendent of the School for the Blind, Jacksonville, Ill., U.S.A., has invented a Braille typewriter and stereotype maker; the latter embosses metal plates from which any number of copies can be printed. An automatic Braille-writer has been brought out in Germany, and William B. Wait (principal of the Institution for the Blind in New York City) has invented a machine for writing New York point. These machines are expensive, but A. Wayne of Birmingham has brought out a cheap and effective Braille-writer. H. Stainsby, secretary of the Birmingham institution, and Wayne have invented a machine for writing Braille shorthand.
Many boards have been constructed to enable the blind to work arithmetical problems. The one which is most used was invented by the Rev. W. Taylor. The board has star-shaped openings in which a square pin fits in eight different positions. The pin has on one end a plain ridge and on the other a notched ridge; sixteen characters can be formed with the two ends. The board is also used for algebra, another set of type furnishing the algebraic symbols.
Books are prepared with raised geometrical diagrams; figures can be formed with bent wires on cushions, or on paper with a toothed wheel attached to one end of a pair of compasses.
Geography is studied by means of relief maps, manufactured in wood or paper. The physical maps and globes prepared for seeing children are used also for the blind.
Chiefly owing to the unremitting energy and liberality of Dr T.R. Armitage, in connexion with the British and Foreign Blind Association, all school appliances for the blind have been greatly improved and cheapened.
Employment
Reference has been made to the fact that music in its various branches furnishes the best and most lucrative employment for the blind. But those who have not the ability, or are too old to be trained for music or some other profession, must depend upon handicrafts for their support. The principal ones taught in the various institutions are the making of baskets, brushes, mats, sacks, ships’ fenders, brooms and mattresses, upholstery, wire-work, chair-caning, wood-chopping, &c. Females are taught to make fancy baskets and brushes, chair-caning, knitting, netting, weaving, sewing—hand and machine—crocheting, &c. It is difficult to find employment for blind girls. It is hoped that typewriting and massage will prove remunerative.
The blind, whether educated for the church, trained as teachers, musicians, pianoforte-tuners, or for any other trade or occupation, generally require assistance at the outset. They need help in finding suitable employment, recommendations for establishing a connexion, pecuniary assistance in providing outfits of books, tools, instruments, &c., help in the selection and purchase of the best materials at the lowest wholesale rates, in the sale of their manufactured goods in the best markets, and if overtaken by reverses, judicious and timely help towards a fresh start. Every institution should keep in touch with its old pupils. The superintendent who carefully studies the successes and failures of his pupils when they go into the world, will more wisely direct the work and energies of his present and future students.
Within recent years great improvements have been made in some of the progressive workshops for the blind. At the conference in London in 1902 Mr T. Stoddart gave the following information in regard to the work in Glasgow:—“We are building very extensive additions to our workshops, which will enable us to accommodate 600 blind people. We mean to employ the most up-to-date methods, and are introducing electric power to drive the machinery and light the workshops. We have to do with the average blind adult recently deprived of sight after he has attained an age of from 25 to 40 or even 50 years. In Glasgow we have developed an industry eminently suitable for the employment of the blind, namely, the manufacture of new and the remaking of old bedding. There are industries which are purely local, where certain articles of manufacture largely used in one district are useless, or nearly so, in another; but the field in which this industry may be promoted is practically without limit. It is perhaps the employmentpar excellencefor the blind, and among other advantages it has the following to recommend it: employment is provided for the blind of both sexes and of all ages; there is no accumulation nor deterioration of stock; it yields an excellent profit, and its use is universal. We have been pushing this industry for years, our annual turnover in this particular department having exceeded £7000, and as we find it so suited to the capabilities of all grades of blind people, it is our intention to provide facilities for doing a turnover of three times that amount. Instead of the thirty sewing-machines which we have at present running by power, we hope to employ 100 blind women. At cork-fender-making, also an industry of the most suitable kind, we are at present employing about thirty workers. It is also our intention to greatly develop and extend our mat-making department.”
In the United States many blind persons are engaged in agricultural pursuits, and some are very successful in commercial pursuits. When a man loses his sight in adult life, if he can possibly follow the business in which he has previously been engaged, it is the best course for him. In the present day, work in manufactories is subdivided to such an extent that often some one portion can be done by a blind person; but it needs the interest of some enthusiastic believer in the capabilities of the blind to persuade the seeing manager that blind people can be safely employed in factories.
In England, at the time of the royal commission of 1889, upwards of 8000 blind persons, above the age of 21, were in receipt of relief from the guardians, of whom no less than 3278 were resident in workhouses or workhouse infirmaries. Thecensus returns for 1901 indicate that the number at that time was equally large. It would certainly be more economical to establish workshops where the able-bodied adult blind can be trained in some handicraft and employed.
The papers read at the various conferences show that, even under the most favourable circumstances, some are not able to earn enough for their support; nevertheless, employment improves their condition; there is no greater calamity than to live a life of compulsory idleness in total darkness. The cry of the blind is not alms but work. One of the workshops in western America has adopted the motto, “Independence through Industry,” and it should be the aim of every civilized country to hasten the time when blindness and pauperism shall no longer be synonymous terms.
Biography
It may be interesting, in conclusion, to mention some of the names of prominent blind people in history:—
Timoleon (c. 410-336B.C.), a Greek general.Aufidius, a Roman senator.Bela II. (d. 1141), king of Hungary.John, king of Bohemia (1296-1346), killed in the battle of Crécy.John Zizca (c. 1376-1424), Bohemian general.Basil III. (d. 1462), prince of Moscow.Shah Alam (d. 1806), the last of the Great Moguls.Diodorus, the instructor of Cicero.Didymus of Alexandria (c. 308-395), mathematician, theologian and linguist.Nicase of Malines (d. 1492), professor of law in the university of Cologne. The degree of doctor of divinity was conferred on him by the university of Louvain, and the pope granted a dispensation suspending the law of the Church, that he might be ordained as a priest.Ludovico Scapinelli (b. 1585), professor at the universities of Bologna, Modena and Pisa.James Schegkius (d. 1587), professor of philosophy and medicine at Tübingen.Franciscus Salinas, professor of music at the university of Salamanca, in the 16th century.Nicholas Bacon (16th century), doctor of laws in the university of Brussels.Count de Pagan of Avignon (b. 1604), mathematician of note.John Milton (1608-1674), the poet.Rev. Richard Lucas (1648-1715), prebendary of Westminster.Nicholas Saunderson (q.v.; 1682-1739).John Stanley (1713-1786), Mus. Bac. Oxon., was born in London in 1713. At seven he began to study music, and made such rapid progress that he was appointed organist of All-Hallows, Bread Street, at the age of eleven. He graduated as Mus. Bac. at Oxford when sixteen, and was organist of the Temple church at the age of twenty-one. He composed a number of cantatas, and after the death of Handel he superintended the performance of Handel’s oratorios at Covent Garden. He received the degree of doctor of music, and was master of the king’s band.Leonard Euler (1707-1783), the celebrated mathematician and astronomer.John Metcalf (b. 1717), road-builder and contractor.Sir John Fielding (d. 1780), eminent lawyer and magistrate.Thomas Blacklock (q.v.; 1721-1791), Scottish scholar and poet.François Huber (1750-1831), Swiss naturalist, noted for his observations on bees.Edward Rushton (b. 1756). At six years of age he entered the Liverpool free grammar school, and at eleven shipped for his first voyage in a West India merchantman. On a later voyage he was shipwrecked, and owed his life to the self-sacrifice of a negro. Rushton and the black man swam for their lives to a floating cask; the negro reached it first, saw Rushton about to sink, pushed the cask to the failing lad, and struck out for the shore, but never reached it. This incident made Rushton an enthusiastic champion through life of the cause of the negro. During a voyage to Dominica malignant ophthalmia broke out among the slave cargo, and Rushton caught the disease by attending them in the hold when all others refused help. This attack deprived him of sight, and cut short a promising nautical career at the age of nineteen. He struggled bravely against difficulties, and besides entering successfully into various literary engagements, maintained himself and family as a bookseller. A volume of his poems containing a memoir was published in 1824.Marie Thérèse von Paradis (b. 1759), the daughter of an imperial councillor in Vienna. She was a godchild of the empress Marie Thérèse, and as her parents possessed rank and wealth, no expense was spared in her education. Weissembourg, a blind man, was her tutor, and she learned to spell with letters cut out of pasteboard, and read words pricked upon cards with pins. She studied the piano with Richter (of Holland) and Kozeluch. She was a highly esteemed pianist, and Mozart wrote a concerto for her; she also attained considerable skill on the organ, in singing and in composition. She made a concert tour of Europe, visiting the principal courts and everywhere achieving great success. She remained four months in England, under the patronage of the queen. On her return to Vienna, through Paris, she met Valentin Haüy. Towards the close of her life she devoted herself to teaching singing and the pianoforte with great success.James Holman (q.v.; 1786-1857), traveller.William H. Prescott (q.v.; 1796-1859), the American historian.Several early 19th-century musicians held situations as organists in London; among them Grenville, Scott, Lockhart, Mather, Stiles and Warne.Louis Braille (1809-1852). In 1819 he went to the school for the blind in Paris. He became proficient on the organ, and held a post in one of the Paris churches. While a professor at the Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles, he perfected his system of point writing.Alexander Rodenbach, Belgian statesman. When a member of the chamber of deputies, in 1836, he introduced and succeeded in establishing by law the right of blind and deaf-mute children to an education.Dr William Moon (1818-1894), the inventor of the type for the blind which bears his name.Rev. W.H. Milburn, D.D. (1823-1903), the American chaplain, known in the United States as “The Blind Man Eloquent.” He often travelled from thirty to fifty thousand miles a year, speaking and preaching every day. He was three times chaplain of the House of Representatives, and in 1893 was chosen to the chaplaincy of the senate.Dr T.R. Armitage (b. 1824). After spending his youth on the continent, he became a medical student, first at King’s College, and afterwards at Paris and Vienna. His career promised to be a brilliant one, but at the age of thirty-six failing sight caused him to abandon his profession. For the rest of his life he devoted his time and fortune to the interests of the blind. He reorganized the Indigent Blind Visiting Society, endowed its Samaritan fund, founded the British and Foreign Blind Association, and, in conjunction with the late duke of Westminster and others, founded the Royal Normal College.Elizabeth Gilbert (b. 1826), daughter of the bishop of Chichester. She lost her sight at the age of three. She was educated at home, and took her full share of household duties and cares and pleasures. When she was twenty-seven, she began to consider the condition of the poor blind of London. She saw some one must befriend those who had been taught trades, some one who could supply material, give employment or dispose of the articles manufactured. In 1854 her scheme was started, and work was given to six men in their own homes, but the number soon increased. In 1856 a committee was formed, a house converted into a factory, and the Association for Promoting the General Welfare of the Blind was founded.Rev. George Matheson, D.D. (b. 1842), preacher and writer of the Church of Scotland. The degree of D.D. was conferred on him by the university of Edinburgh in 1879, and he was appointed Baird Lecturer in 1881, and St Giles’ Lecturer in 1882.Henry Fawcett (1833-1884), professor of political economy at Cambridge, and postmaster-general.W.H. Churchman of Pennsylvania, who was instrumental in establishing the schools for the blind in Tennessee, Indiana and Wisconsin.H.L. Hall, founder of the workshops and home for the blind in Philadelphia; by his energetic management he raised the standard of work for the adult blind throughout America.
Timoleon (c. 410-336B.C.), a Greek general.
Aufidius, a Roman senator.
Bela II. (d. 1141), king of Hungary.
John, king of Bohemia (1296-1346), killed in the battle of Crécy.
John Zizca (c. 1376-1424), Bohemian general.
Basil III. (d. 1462), prince of Moscow.
Shah Alam (d. 1806), the last of the Great Moguls.
Diodorus, the instructor of Cicero.
Didymus of Alexandria (c. 308-395), mathematician, theologian and linguist.
Nicase of Malines (d. 1492), professor of law in the university of Cologne. The degree of doctor of divinity was conferred on him by the university of Louvain, and the pope granted a dispensation suspending the law of the Church, that he might be ordained as a priest.
Ludovico Scapinelli (b. 1585), professor at the universities of Bologna, Modena and Pisa.
James Schegkius (d. 1587), professor of philosophy and medicine at Tübingen.
Franciscus Salinas, professor of music at the university of Salamanca, in the 16th century.
Nicholas Bacon (16th century), doctor of laws in the university of Brussels.
Count de Pagan of Avignon (b. 1604), mathematician of note.
John Milton (1608-1674), the poet.
Rev. Richard Lucas (1648-1715), prebendary of Westminster.
Nicholas Saunderson (q.v.; 1682-1739).
John Stanley (1713-1786), Mus. Bac. Oxon., was born in London in 1713. At seven he began to study music, and made such rapid progress that he was appointed organist of All-Hallows, Bread Street, at the age of eleven. He graduated as Mus. Bac. at Oxford when sixteen, and was organist of the Temple church at the age of twenty-one. He composed a number of cantatas, and after the death of Handel he superintended the performance of Handel’s oratorios at Covent Garden. He received the degree of doctor of music, and was master of the king’s band.
Leonard Euler (1707-1783), the celebrated mathematician and astronomer.
John Metcalf (b. 1717), road-builder and contractor.
Sir John Fielding (d. 1780), eminent lawyer and magistrate.
Thomas Blacklock (q.v.; 1721-1791), Scottish scholar and poet.
François Huber (1750-1831), Swiss naturalist, noted for his observations on bees.
Edward Rushton (b. 1756). At six years of age he entered the Liverpool free grammar school, and at eleven shipped for his first voyage in a West India merchantman. On a later voyage he was shipwrecked, and owed his life to the self-sacrifice of a negro. Rushton and the black man swam for their lives to a floating cask; the negro reached it first, saw Rushton about to sink, pushed the cask to the failing lad, and struck out for the shore, but never reached it. This incident made Rushton an enthusiastic champion through life of the cause of the negro. During a voyage to Dominica malignant ophthalmia broke out among the slave cargo, and Rushton caught the disease by attending them in the hold when all others refused help. This attack deprived him of sight, and cut short a promising nautical career at the age of nineteen. He struggled bravely against difficulties, and besides entering successfully into various literary engagements, maintained himself and family as a bookseller. A volume of his poems containing a memoir was published in 1824.
Marie Thérèse von Paradis (b. 1759), the daughter of an imperial councillor in Vienna. She was a godchild of the empress Marie Thérèse, and as her parents possessed rank and wealth, no expense was spared in her education. Weissembourg, a blind man, was her tutor, and she learned to spell with letters cut out of pasteboard, and read words pricked upon cards with pins. She studied the piano with Richter (of Holland) and Kozeluch. She was a highly esteemed pianist, and Mozart wrote a concerto for her; she also attained considerable skill on the organ, in singing and in composition. She made a concert tour of Europe, visiting the principal courts and everywhere achieving great success. She remained four months in England, under the patronage of the queen. On her return to Vienna, through Paris, she met Valentin Haüy. Towards the close of her life she devoted herself to teaching singing and the pianoforte with great success.
James Holman (q.v.; 1786-1857), traveller.
William H. Prescott (q.v.; 1796-1859), the American historian.
Several early 19th-century musicians held situations as organists in London; among them Grenville, Scott, Lockhart, Mather, Stiles and Warne.
Louis Braille (1809-1852). In 1819 he went to the school for the blind in Paris. He became proficient on the organ, and held a post in one of the Paris churches. While a professor at the Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles, he perfected his system of point writing.
Alexander Rodenbach, Belgian statesman. When a member of the chamber of deputies, in 1836, he introduced and succeeded in establishing by law the right of blind and deaf-mute children to an education.
Dr William Moon (1818-1894), the inventor of the type for the blind which bears his name.
Rev. W.H. Milburn, D.D. (1823-1903), the American chaplain, known in the United States as “The Blind Man Eloquent.” He often travelled from thirty to fifty thousand miles a year, speaking and preaching every day. He was three times chaplain of the House of Representatives, and in 1893 was chosen to the chaplaincy of the senate.
Dr T.R. Armitage (b. 1824). After spending his youth on the continent, he became a medical student, first at King’s College, and afterwards at Paris and Vienna. His career promised to be a brilliant one, but at the age of thirty-six failing sight caused him to abandon his profession. For the rest of his life he devoted his time and fortune to the interests of the blind. He reorganized the Indigent Blind Visiting Society, endowed its Samaritan fund, founded the British and Foreign Blind Association, and, in conjunction with the late duke of Westminster and others, founded the Royal Normal College.
Elizabeth Gilbert (b. 1826), daughter of the bishop of Chichester. She lost her sight at the age of three. She was educated at home, and took her full share of household duties and cares and pleasures. When she was twenty-seven, she began to consider the condition of the poor blind of London. She saw some one must befriend those who had been taught trades, some one who could supply material, give employment or dispose of the articles manufactured. In 1854 her scheme was started, and work was given to six men in their own homes, but the number soon increased. In 1856 a committee was formed, a house converted into a factory, and the Association for Promoting the General Welfare of the Blind was founded.
Rev. George Matheson, D.D. (b. 1842), preacher and writer of the Church of Scotland. The degree of D.D. was conferred on him by the university of Edinburgh in 1879, and he was appointed Baird Lecturer in 1881, and St Giles’ Lecturer in 1882.
Henry Fawcett (1833-1884), professor of political economy at Cambridge, and postmaster-general.
W.H. Churchman of Pennsylvania, who was instrumental in establishing the schools for the blind in Tennessee, Indiana and Wisconsin.
H.L. Hall, founder of the workshops and home for the blind in Philadelphia; by his energetic management he raised the standard of work for the adult blind throughout America.
Bibliography.—See also W.H. Levy,Blindness and the Blind(1872); J. Wilson,Biography of the Blind(1838); Dr T.R. Armitage, Education and Employment of the Blind (2nd ed., 1882); R.H. Blair,Education of the Blind(1868); M. Anagnos,Education of the Blind(1882); H.J. Wilson,Institutions, Societies and Classes for the Blind in England and Wales(1907); Guillié,Instruction and Amusements of the Blind(1819); Dr W. Moon,Light for the Blind(1875); R. Meldrum,Light on Dark Paths(2nd ed., 1891); Dr H. Roth,Prevention of Blindness(1885), and hisPhysical Education of the Blind(1885);Report of Royal Commission(1889); Gavin Douglas,Remarkable Blind Persons(1829); John Bird,Social Pathology(1862); M. de la Sizeranne,The Blind in Useful Avocations(Paris, 1881),True Mission of Smaller Schools(Paris, 1884),The Blind in France(Paris, 1885),Two Years’ Study and Work for the Blind(Paris, 1890), andThe Blind as seen by a Blind Man[translated by Dr Park Lewis] (Paris, 1893); Dr Émile Javal,The BlindMan’s World[translated by Ernest Thomson] (Paris, 1904); Prof. A. Mell,Encyklopadisches Handbuch des Blindenwesens(Vienna, 1899).
Bibliography.—See also W.H. Levy,Blindness and the Blind(1872); J. Wilson,Biography of the Blind(1838); Dr T.R. Armitage, Education and Employment of the Blind (2nd ed., 1882); R.H. Blair,Education of the Blind(1868); M. Anagnos,Education of the Blind(1882); H.J. Wilson,Institutions, Societies and Classes for the Blind in England and Wales(1907); Guillié,Instruction and Amusements of the Blind(1819); Dr W. Moon,Light for the Blind(1875); R. Meldrum,Light on Dark Paths(2nd ed., 1891); Dr H. Roth,Prevention of Blindness(1885), and hisPhysical Education of the Blind(1885);Report of Royal Commission(1889); Gavin Douglas,Remarkable Blind Persons(1829); John Bird,Social Pathology(1862); M. de la Sizeranne,The Blind in Useful Avocations(Paris, 1881),True Mission of Smaller Schools(Paris, 1884),The Blind in France(Paris, 1885),Two Years’ Study and Work for the Blind(Paris, 1890), andThe Blind as seen by a Blind Man[translated by Dr Park Lewis] (Paris, 1893); Dr Émile Javal,The BlindMan’s World[translated by Ernest Thomson] (Paris, 1904); Prof. A. Mell,Encyklopadisches Handbuch des Blindenwesens(Vienna, 1899).
(F. J. C.)
1There are no late returns for Iceland, but the last available statistics gave 3400 per million. A paper written in 1903 on blindness in Egypt stated that 1 in every 50 of the population was blind.2Previous returns from Finland have shown a much larger number of blind persons, but these statistics were supplied by the British consul in St Petersburg from the last census.3Its principal (responsible, with Dr Armitage, the duke of Westminster and others, for its foundation) was Sir F.J. Campbell, LL.D., F.R.G.S., F.S.A., himself a blind man, who, born in Tennessee, U.S.A., in 1832, and educated at the Nashville school, and afterwards in music at Leipzig and Berlin, had from 1858 to 1869 been associated with Dr Howe at the Perkins Institution, Boston. He was knighted in 1909.
1There are no late returns for Iceland, but the last available statistics gave 3400 per million. A paper written in 1903 on blindness in Egypt stated that 1 in every 50 of the population was blind.
2Previous returns from Finland have shown a much larger number of blind persons, but these statistics were supplied by the British consul in St Petersburg from the last census.
3Its principal (responsible, with Dr Armitage, the duke of Westminster and others, for its foundation) was Sir F.J. Campbell, LL.D., F.R.G.S., F.S.A., himself a blind man, who, born in Tennessee, U.S.A., in 1832, and educated at the Nashville school, and afterwards in music at Leipzig and Berlin, had from 1858 to 1869 been associated with Dr Howe at the Perkins Institution, Boston. He was knighted in 1909.
BLISS, CORNELIUS NEWTON(1833- ), American merchant and politician, was born at Fall River, Massachusetts, on the 26th of January 1833. He was educated in his native city and in New Orleans, where he early entered his step-father’s counting-house. Returning to Massachusetts in 1849, he became a clerk and subsequently a junior partner in a prominent Boston commercial house. Later he removed to New York City to establish a branch of the firm. In 1881 he organized and became president of Bliss, Fabyan & Company, one of the largest wholesale dry-goods houses in the country. A consistent advocate of the protective tariff, he was one of the organizers, and for many years president, of the American Protective Tariff League. In politics an active Republican, he was chairman of the Republican state committee in 1887 and 1888, and contributed much to the success of the Harrison ticket in New York in the latter year. He was treasurer of the Republican national committee from 1892 to 1904, and was secretary of the interior in President McKinley’s cabinet from 1897 to 1899.
BLISTER(a word found in many forms in Teutonic languages, cf. Ger.Blase; it is ultimately connected with the same root as in “blow,” cf. “bladder”), a small vesicle filled with serous fluid raised on the skin by a burn, by rubbing on a hard surface, as on the hand in rowing, or by other injury; the term is also used of a similar condition of the skin caused artificially, as a counter-irritant in cases of inflammation, by the application of mustard, of various kinds of fly (seeCantharides) and of other vesicatories. Similar small swellings, filled with fluid or air, on plants and on the surface of steel or paint, &c., are also called “blisters.”
BLIZZARD(origin probably onomatopoeic, cf. “blast,” “bluster”), a furious wind driving fine particles of choking, blinding snow whirling in icy clouds. The conditions to which the name was originally given occur with the northerly winds in rear of the cyclones crossing the eastern states of America during winter.
BLOCK, MARK ELIEZER(c. 1723-1799), German naturalist, was born at Ansbach, of poor Jewish parents, about 1723. After taking his degree as doctor at Frankfort-on-Oder he established himself as a physician at Berlin. His first scientific work of importance was an essay on intestinal worms, which gained a prize from the Academy of Copenhagen, but he is best known by his important work on fishes (seeIchthyology). Bloch was fifty-six when he began to write on ichthyological subjects. To begin at his time of life a work in which he intended not only to give full descriptions of the species known to him from specimens or drawings, but also to illustrate each species in a style truly magnificent for his time, was an undertaking the execution of which most men would have despaired of. Yet he accomplished not only this task, but even more than he at first contemplated. He died at Carlsbad on the 6th of August 1799.
BLOCK, MAURICE(1816-1901), French statistician, was born in Berlin of Jewish parents on the 18th of February 1816. He studied at Bonn and Giessen, but settled in Paris, becoming naturalized there. In 1844 he entered the French ministry of agriculture, becoming in 1852 one of the heads of the statistical department. He retired in 1862, and thenceforth devoted himself entirely to statistical studies, which have gained for him a wide reputation. He was elected a member of the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques in 1880. He died in Paris on the 9th of January 1901. His principal works are:Dictionnaire de l’administration française(1856);Statistique de la France(1860);Dictionnaire général de la politique(1862);L’Europe polilique et sociale(1869);Traité théorique et pratique de statistique(1878);Les Progrés de l’économie politique depuis Adam Smith(1890); he also edited from 1856L’Annuaire de l’économie politique et de la statistique, and wrote in GermanDie Bevolkerung des französischen Kaiserreichs(1861);Die Bevolkerung Spaniens und Portugals(1861); andDie Machtstellung der europäischen Staaten(1862).
BLOCK(from the Fr.bloc, and possibly connected with an Old Ger.Block, obstruction, cf. “baulk”), a piece of wood. The word is used in various senses,e.g.the block upon which people were beheaded, the block or mould upon which a hat is shaped, a pulley-block, a printing-block, &c. From the sense of a solid mass comes the expression, a “block” of houses,i.e.a rectangular space covered with houses and bounded by four streets. From the sense of “obstruction” comes a “block” in traffic, a block in any proceedings, and the block system of signalling on railways.
BLOCKADE(Fr.blocus, Ger.Blokade), a term used in maritime warfare. Originally a blockade by sea was probably nothing more than the equivalent in maritime warfare of a blockade or siege on land in which the army investing the blockaded or besieged place is in actual physical possession of a zone through which it can prevent and forbid ingress and egress. An attempt to cross such a zone without the consent of the investing army would be an act of hostility against the besiegers. A maritime blockade, when it formed part of a siege, would obviously also be a close blockade, being part of the military cordon drawn round the besieged place. Even from the first, however, differences would begin to grow up in the conditions arising out of the operations on land and on sea. Thus whereas conveying merchandise across military lines would be a deliberate act of hostility against the investing force, a neutral ship which had sailed in ignorance of the blockade for the blockaded place might in good faith cross the blockade line without committing a hostile act against the investing force. With the development of recognition of neutral rights the involuntary character of the breach would be taken into account, and notice to neutral states and to approaching vessels would come into use. With the employment in warfare of larger vessels in the place of the more numerous small ones of an earlier age, notice, moreover, would tend to take the place ofde factoinvestment, and at a time when communication between governments was still slow and precarious, such notice would sometimes be given as a possible measure of belligerent tactics before the blockade could be actually carried out. Out of these circumstances grew up the abuse of “paper blockades.”
The climax was reached in the “Continental Blockade” decreed by Napoleon in 1806, which continued till it was abolished by international agreement in 1812. This blockade forbade all countries under French dominion or allied with France to have any communication with Great Britain. Great Britain replied in 1807 by a similar measure. The first nation to protest against these fictitious blockades was the United States. Already in 1800 John Marshall, secretary of state, wrote to the American minister in Great Britain pointing out objections which have since been universally admitted. In the following interesting passage he said:—
“Ports not effectually blockaded by a force capable of completely investing them have yet been declared in a state of blockade.... If the effectiveness of the blockade be dispensed with, then every port of the belligerent powers may at all times be declared in that state, and the commerce of neutrals be thereby subjected to universal capture. But if this principle be strictly adhered to, the capacity to blockade will be limited by the naval force of the belligerent and, in consequence, the mischief to neutral commerce cannot be very extensive. It is, therefore, of the last importance to neutrals that this principle be maintained unimpaired. I observe that you have pressed this reasoning on the British minister, who replies that an occasional absence of a fleet from a blockaded port ought not to change the state of the place. Whatever force this observation may be entitled to, where that occasional absence has been produced by an accident, as a storm, which for a moment blows off a fleet and forces it from its station, which station it immediately resumes, I am persuaded that where a part of the fleet is applied, though only for a time, to other objects or comes into port, the very principle requiring an effective blockade, which is that the mischief can only be coextensive with the naval force of the belligerent, requires that during such temporary absence the commerce to the neutrals to the place should be free.”1
“Ports not effectually blockaded by a force capable of completely investing them have yet been declared in a state of blockade.... If the effectiveness of the blockade be dispensed with, then every port of the belligerent powers may at all times be declared in that state, and the commerce of neutrals be thereby subjected to universal capture. But if this principle be strictly adhered to, the capacity to blockade will be limited by the naval force of the belligerent and, in consequence, the mischief to neutral commerce cannot be very extensive. It is, therefore, of the last importance to neutrals that this principle be maintained unimpaired. I observe that you have pressed this reasoning on the British minister, who replies that an occasional absence of a fleet from a blockaded port ought not to change the state of the place. Whatever force this observation may be entitled to, where that occasional absence has been produced by an accident, as a storm, which for a moment blows off a fleet and forces it from its station, which station it immediately resumes, I am persuaded that where a part of the fleet is applied, though only for a time, to other objects or comes into port, the very principle requiring an effective blockade, which is that the mischief can only be coextensive with the naval force of the belligerent, requires that during such temporary absence the commerce to the neutrals to the place should be free.”1
Again in 1803 James Madison wrote to the then American minister in London:—
“The law of nations requires to constitute a blockade that there should be the presence and position of a force rendering access to the prohibited place manifestly difficult and dangerous.”2
“The law of nations requires to constitute a blockade that there should be the presence and position of a force rendering access to the prohibited place manifestly difficult and dangerous.”2
In 1826 and 1827 Great Britain as well as the United States asserted that blockades in order to be binding must be effective. This became gradually the recognized view, and when in 1856 the powers represented at the congress of Paris inserted in the declaration there adopted that “blockades in order to be binding must be effective, that is to say, maintained by a force sufficient really to prevent access to the coast of an enemy,” they were merely enunciating a rule which neutral states had already become too powerful to allow belligerents to disregard.
Blockade is universally admitted to be a belligerent right to which under international law neutrals are obliged to submit. It is now also universally admitted that the above-quoted rule of the Declaration of Paris forms part of international law, independently of the declaration. Being, however, exclusively a belligerent right, it cannot be exercised except by a belligerent force. Even ade factobelligerent has the right to institute a blockade binding on neutrals if it has the means of making it effective, though the force opposed to it may treat thede factobelligerent as rebels.
It is also admitted that, being exclusively a belligerent right, it cannot be exercised in time of peace, but there has been some inconsistency in practice (seePacific Blockade) which will probably lead governments, in order to avoid protests of neutral powers against belligerent rights being exercised in mere coercive proceedings, to exercise all the rights of belligerents and carry onde factowar to entitle them to use violence against neutral infringers. This was done in the case of the blockade of Venezuela by Great Britain, Germany and Italy in 1902-1903.
The points upon which controversy still arises are as to what constitutes an “effective” blockade and what a sufficient notice of blockade to warrant the penalties of violation, viz. confiscation of the ship and of the cargo unless the evidence demonstrates the innocence of the cargo owners. A blockade to be effective must be maintained by a sufficient force to prevent the entrance of neutral vessels into the blockaded port or ports, and it must be duly proclaimed. Subject to these principles being complied with, “the question of the legitimacy and effectiveness of a blockade is one of fact to be determined in each case upon the evidence presented” (Thomas F. Bayard, American secretary of state, to Messrs Kamer & Co., 19th of February 1889). The British manual of naval prize law sums up the cases in which a blockade, validly instituted, ceases to be effectively maintained, as follows:—(1) If the blockading force abandons its position, unless the abandonment be merely temporary or caused by stress of weather, or (2) if it be driven away by the enemy, or (3) if it be negligent in its duties, or (4) if it be partial in the execution of its duties towards one ship rather than another, or towards the ships of one nation rather than those of another. These cases, however, are based on decisions of the British admiralty court and cannot be relied on absolutely as a statement of international law.
As regards notice the following American instructions vere given to blockading officers in June 1898:—
“Neutral vessels are entitled to notification of a blockade before they can be made prize for its attempted violation. The character of this notification is not material. It may be actual, as by a vessel of the blockading force, orconstructive, as by a proclamation of the government maintaining the blockade, or by common notoriety. If a neutral vessel can be shown to have had notice of the blockade in any way, she is good prize, and should be sent in for adjudication; but should formal notice not have been given,the rule of constructive knowledge arising from notorietyshould be construed in a manner liberal to the neutral.“Vessels appearing before a blockaded port, having sailed without notification, are entitled to actual notice by a blockading vessel. They should be boarded by an officer, who should enter in the ship’s log the fact of such notice, such entry to include the name of the blockading vessel giving notice, the extent of the blockade, the date and place, verified by his official signature. The vessel is then to be set free; and should she again attempt to enter the same or any other blockaded port as to which she has had notice, she is good prize. Should it appear from a vessel’s clearance that she sailed after notice of blockade had been communicated to the country of her port of departure, orafter the fact of blockade had, by a fair presumption, become commonly knownat that port, she should be sent in as a prize.”
“Neutral vessels are entitled to notification of a blockade before they can be made prize for its attempted violation. The character of this notification is not material. It may be actual, as by a vessel of the blockading force, orconstructive, as by a proclamation of the government maintaining the blockade, or by common notoriety. If a neutral vessel can be shown to have had notice of the blockade in any way, she is good prize, and should be sent in for adjudication; but should formal notice not have been given,the rule of constructive knowledge arising from notorietyshould be construed in a manner liberal to the neutral.
“Vessels appearing before a blockaded port, having sailed without notification, are entitled to actual notice by a blockading vessel. They should be boarded by an officer, who should enter in the ship’s log the fact of such notice, such entry to include the name of the blockading vessel giving notice, the extent of the blockade, the date and place, verified by his official signature. The vessel is then to be set free; and should she again attempt to enter the same or any other blockaded port as to which she has had notice, she is good prize. Should it appear from a vessel’s clearance that she sailed after notice of blockade had been communicated to the country of her port of departure, orafter the fact of blockade had, by a fair presumption, become commonly knownat that port, she should be sent in as a prize.”
The passages in italics are not in accordance with the views held by other states, which do not recognize the binding character of a diplomatic notification or of constructive notice from notoriety.
The subject was brought up at the second Hague Conference (1907). The Italian and Mexican delegations submitted projects, but after a declaration by the British delegate in charge of the subject (Sir E. Satow) that blockade not having been included in the Russian programme, his government had given him no instructions upon it, the subject, at his suggestion, was dropped. AVoeu, however, was adopted in favour of formulating rules on all branches of the laws and customs of naval war, and a convention was agreed to for the establishment of an international Prize Court (seePrize). Under Art. 7 of the latter convention the Court was to apply the “rules of international law,” and in their absence the “general principles of justice and equity.” As soon as possible after the close of the second Hague Conference the British government took steps to call a special conference of the maritime powers, which sat from December 4, 1908 to February 26, 1909. Among the subjects dealt with was Blockade, the rules relating to which are as follow:—
Art. 1. A blockade must not extend beyond the ports and coasts belonging to or occupied by the enemy.Art. 2. In accordance with the Declaration of Paris of 1856, a blockade, in order to be binding, must be effective—that is to say, it must be maintained by a force sufficient really to prevent access to the enemy coastline.Art. 3. The question whether a blockade is effective is a question of fact.Art. 4. A blockade is not regarded as raised if the blockading force is temporarily withdrawn on account of stress of weather.Art. 5. A blockade must be applied impartially to the ships of all nations.Art. 6. The commander of a blockading force may give permission to a warship to enter, and subsequently to leave, a blockaded port.Art. 7. In circumstances of distress, acknowledged by an officer of the blockading force, a neutral vessel may enter a place under blockade and subsequently leave it, provided that she has neither discharged nor shipped any cargo there.Art. 8. A blockade, in order to be binding, must be declared in accordance with Article 9, and notified in accordance with Articles 11 and 16.Art. 9. A declaration of blockade is made either by the blockading power or by the naval authorities acting in its name. It specifies (1) the date when the blockade begins; (2) the geographical limits of the coastline under blockade; (3) the period within which neutral vessels may come out.Art. 10. If the operations of the blockading power, or of the naval authorities acting in its name, do not tally with the particulars, which, in accordance with Article 9 (1) and (2), must be inserted in the declaration of blockade, the declaration is void, and a new declaration is necessary in order to make the blockade operative.Art. 11. A declaration of blockade is notified: (1) to neutral powers, by the blockading power by means of a communication addressed to the governments direct, or to their representatives accredited to it; (2) to the local authorities, by the officer commanding the blockading force. The local authorities will, in turn, inform the foreign consular officers at the port or on the coastline under blockade as soon as possible.Art. 12. The rules as to declaration and notification of blockade apply to cases where the limits of a blockade are extended, or where a blockade is re-established after having been raised.Art. 13. The voluntary raising of a blockade, as also any restriction in the limits of a blockade, must be notified in the manner prescribed by Article 11.Art. 14. The liability of a neutral vessel to capture for breach of blockade is contingent on her knowledge, actual or presumptive, of the blockade.Art. 15. Failing proof to the contrary, knowledge of the blockade is presumed if the vessel left a neutral port subsequently to the notification of the blockade to the power to which such port belongs, provided that such notification was made in sufficient time.Art. 16. If a vessel approaching a blockaded port has no knowledge, actual or presumptive, of the blockade, the notification must be made to the vessel itself by an officer of one of the ships of the blockading force. This notification should be entered in the vessel’s logbook, and must state the day and hour, and the geographical position of the vessel at the time. If through the negligence of the officer commanding the blockading force no declaration of blockade has been notified to the local authorities, or if in the declaration, as notified, no period has been mentioned within which neutral vessels may come out, a neutral vessel coming out of the blockaded port must be allowed to pass free.Art. 17. Neutral vessels may not be captured for breach of blockade except within the area of operations of the warships detailed to render the blockade effective.Art. 18. The blockading forces must not bar access to neutral ports or coasts.Art. 19. Whatever may be the ulterior destination of a vessel or of her cargo, she cannot be captured for breach of blockade, if, at the moment, she is on her way to a non-blockaded port.Art. 20. A vessel which has broken blockade outwards, or which has attempted to break blockade inwards, is liable to capture so long as she is pursued by a ship of the blockading force. If the pursuit is abandoned, or if the blockade is raised, her capture can no longer be effected.Art. 21. A vessel found guilty of breach of blockade is liable to condemnation. The cargo is also condemned, unless it is proved that at the time of the shipment of the goods the shipper neither knew nor could have known of the intention to break the blockade.
Art. 1. A blockade must not extend beyond the ports and coasts belonging to or occupied by the enemy.
Art. 2. In accordance with the Declaration of Paris of 1856, a blockade, in order to be binding, must be effective—that is to say, it must be maintained by a force sufficient really to prevent access to the enemy coastline.
Art. 3. The question whether a blockade is effective is a question of fact.
Art. 4. A blockade is not regarded as raised if the blockading force is temporarily withdrawn on account of stress of weather.
Art. 5. A blockade must be applied impartially to the ships of all nations.
Art. 6. The commander of a blockading force may give permission to a warship to enter, and subsequently to leave, a blockaded port.
Art. 7. In circumstances of distress, acknowledged by an officer of the blockading force, a neutral vessel may enter a place under blockade and subsequently leave it, provided that she has neither discharged nor shipped any cargo there.
Art. 8. A blockade, in order to be binding, must be declared in accordance with Article 9, and notified in accordance with Articles 11 and 16.
Art. 9. A declaration of blockade is made either by the blockading power or by the naval authorities acting in its name. It specifies (1) the date when the blockade begins; (2) the geographical limits of the coastline under blockade; (3) the period within which neutral vessels may come out.
Art. 10. If the operations of the blockading power, or of the naval authorities acting in its name, do not tally with the particulars, which, in accordance with Article 9 (1) and (2), must be inserted in the declaration of blockade, the declaration is void, and a new declaration is necessary in order to make the blockade operative.
Art. 11. A declaration of blockade is notified: (1) to neutral powers, by the blockading power by means of a communication addressed to the governments direct, or to their representatives accredited to it; (2) to the local authorities, by the officer commanding the blockading force. The local authorities will, in turn, inform the foreign consular officers at the port or on the coastline under blockade as soon as possible.
Art. 12. The rules as to declaration and notification of blockade apply to cases where the limits of a blockade are extended, or where a blockade is re-established after having been raised.
Art. 13. The voluntary raising of a blockade, as also any restriction in the limits of a blockade, must be notified in the manner prescribed by Article 11.
Art. 14. The liability of a neutral vessel to capture for breach of blockade is contingent on her knowledge, actual or presumptive, of the blockade.
Art. 15. Failing proof to the contrary, knowledge of the blockade is presumed if the vessel left a neutral port subsequently to the notification of the blockade to the power to which such port belongs, provided that such notification was made in sufficient time.
Art. 16. If a vessel approaching a blockaded port has no knowledge, actual or presumptive, of the blockade, the notification must be made to the vessel itself by an officer of one of the ships of the blockading force. This notification should be entered in the vessel’s logbook, and must state the day and hour, and the geographical position of the vessel at the time. If through the negligence of the officer commanding the blockading force no declaration of blockade has been notified to the local authorities, or if in the declaration, as notified, no period has been mentioned within which neutral vessels may come out, a neutral vessel coming out of the blockaded port must be allowed to pass free.
Art. 17. Neutral vessels may not be captured for breach of blockade except within the area of operations of the warships detailed to render the blockade effective.
Art. 18. The blockading forces must not bar access to neutral ports or coasts.
Art. 19. Whatever may be the ulterior destination of a vessel or of her cargo, she cannot be captured for breach of blockade, if, at the moment, she is on her way to a non-blockaded port.
Art. 20. A vessel which has broken blockade outwards, or which has attempted to break blockade inwards, is liable to capture so long as she is pursued by a ship of the blockading force. If the pursuit is abandoned, or if the blockade is raised, her capture can no longer be effected.
Art. 21. A vessel found guilty of breach of blockade is liable to condemnation. The cargo is also condemned, unless it is proved that at the time of the shipment of the goods the shipper neither knew nor could have known of the intention to break the blockade.
(T. Ba.)
1John Marshall, secretary of state, to Rufus King, minister to England, 20th of September 1800, Am. State Papers, Class I, For. Rel. II, No. 181, J.B. Moore,Digest of International Law, vii. 788.2James Madison, secretary of state, to Mr Thornton, 27th of October 1803, 14 MS. Dom. Let. 215. Moore,Digest of International Law, vii. 789.
1John Marshall, secretary of state, to Rufus King, minister to England, 20th of September 1800, Am. State Papers, Class I, For. Rel. II, No. 181, J.B. Moore,Digest of International Law, vii. 788.
2James Madison, secretary of state, to Mr Thornton, 27th of October 1803, 14 MS. Dom. Let. 215. Moore,Digest of International Law, vii. 789.
BLOCKHOUSE,in fortification, a small roofed work serving as a fortified post for a small garrison. The word, common since 1500, is of uncertain origin, and was applied to what is now called afort d’arrêt, a detached fort blocking the access to a landing, channel, pass, bridge or defile. The modern blockhouse is a building, sometimes of two storeys, which is loopholed on all sides, and not infrequently, in the case of two-storey blockhouses, provided with amâchicoulisgallery. Blockhouses are built of wood, brick, stone, corrugated iron or any material available. During the South African War (1899-1902) they were often sent from England to the front in ready-made sections.
BLOEMAERT, ABRAHAM(1564-1651), Dutch painter and engraver, was born at Gorinchem, the son of an architect. He was first a pupil of Gerrit Splinter (pupil of Frans Floris) and of Joos de Beer, at Utrecht. He then spent three years in Paris, studying under several masters, and on his return to his native country received further training from Hieronymus Francken. In 1591 he went to Amsterdam, and four years later settled finally at Utrecht, where he became dean of the Gild of St Luke. He excelled more as a colourist than as a draughtsman, was extremely productive, and painted and etched historical and allegorical pictures, landscapes, still-life, animal pictures and flower pieces. Among his pupils are his four sons, Hendrick, Frederick, Cornelis and Adriaan (all of whom achieved considerable reputation as painters or engravers), the two Honthorsts and Jacob G. Cuyp.
BLOEMEN, JAN FRANS VAN(1662-1740), Flemish painter, was born at Antwerp, and studied and lived in Italy. At Rome he was styled Orizonte, on account of his painting of distance in his landscapes, which are reminiscent of Gaspard Poussin and much admired. His brothers Pieter (1657-1719), styled Standaart (from his military pictures), and Norbert (1670-1746), were also well-known painters.
BLOEMFONTEIN,capital of the Orange Free State, in 29º 8′ S., 26º 18′ E. It is situated on the open veld, surrounded by a few low kopjes, 4518 ft. above the sea, 105 m. by rail E. by S. of Kimberley, 750 N.E. by E. of Cape Town, 450 N. by E. of Port Elizabeth, and 257 S.W. of Johannesburg.
Bloemfontein is a very pleasant town, regularly laid out with streets running at right angles and a large central market square. Many of the houses are surrounded by large wooded gardens. Through the town runs the Bloemspruit. After a disastrous flood in 1904 the course of this spring was straightened and six stone bridges placed across it. There are several fine public buildings, mostly built of red brick and a fine-grained white stone quarried in the neighbourhood. The Raadzaal, a building in the Renaissance style, faces Market Square. Formerly the meeting-place of the Orange Free State Raad, it is now the seat of the provincial council. In front of the old Raadzaal (used as law courts) is a statue of President Brand. In Douglas Street is an unpretentious building used in turn as a church, a raadzaal, a court-house and a museum. In it was signed (1854) the convention which recognized the independence of the Free State Boers (seeOrange Free State:History). Among the churches the most important, architecturally, are the Dutch Reformed, a building with two spires, and the Anglican cathedral, which has a fine interior. The chief educational establishment is Grey University College, built 1906-1908 at a cost of £125,000. It stands in grounds of 300 acres, a mile and a half from the town. In the town is the original Grey College, founded in 1856 by Sir George Grey, when governor of Cape Colony. The post and telegraph office in Market Square is one of the finest buildings in the town. The public library is housed in a handsome building in Warden Street. Opposite it is the new national museum.
Bloemfontein possesses few manufactures, but is the trading centre of the province. Having a dry healthy climate, it is a favourite residential town and a resort for invalids, being recommended especially for pulmonary disease. The mean maximum temperature is 76.7° Fahr., the mean minimum 45.8°; the mean annual rainfall about 24 in. There is an excellent water-supply, obtained partly from Bloemspruit, but principally from the Modder river at Sanna’s Post, 22 m. to the east, and from reservoirs at Moches Dam and Magdepoort.
The population in 1904 was 33,883, of whom, including the garrison of 3487, 15,501 were white, compared with a white population of 2077 in 1890. The coloured inhabitants are mostly Bechuana and Basuto. Most of the whites are of British origin, and English is the common language of all, including the Dutch.
Thespruitor spring which gives its name to the town was called after one of the emigrant farmers, Jan Bloem. The town dates from 1846, in which year Major H.D. Warden, then British resident north of the Orange, selected the site as the seat of his administration. When in 1854 independence was conferred on the country the town was chosen by the Boers as the seat of government. It became noted for the intelligence of its citizens, and for the educational advantages it offered at the time when education among the Boers was thought of very lightly. In 1892 the railway connecting it with Cape Town and Johannesburg was completed. During the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902 it was occupied by the British under Lord Roberts without resistance (13th of March 1900), fourteen days after the surrender of General Cronje at Paardeberg. In Market Square on the 28th of the following May the annexation of the Orange Free State to the British dominions was proclaimed. In 1907 the first session of the first parliament elected under the constitution granting the colony self-government was held in Bloemfontein. In 1910 when the colony became a province of the Union of South Africa under its old designation of Orange Free State, Bloemfontein was chosen as the seat of the Supreme Court of South Africa. Its growth as a business centre after the close of the war in 1902 was very marked. The rateable value increased from £709,000 in 1901 to £2,400,000 in 1905.
BLOET, ROBERT(d. 1123), English bishop, was chancellor to William I. and Rufus. From the latter he received the see of Lincoln (1093) in succession to Remigius. His private character was indifferent; but he administered his see with skill and prudence, built largely, and kept a magnificent household, which served as a training-school even for the sons of nobles. Bloet was active in assisting Henry I. during the rebellion of 1102, and became that monarch’s justiciar. Latterly, however, he fell out of favour, and, although he had been very rich, was impoverished by the fines which the king extorted from him. Perhaps his wealth was his chief offence in the king’s eyes; for he was in attendance on Henry when seized with his last illness. He was the patron of the chronicler Henry of Huntingdon, whom he advanced to an archdeaconry.