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Miss Holt has gone to Europe a number of times in the interests of blind welfare work. She was in England in 1914 when the war broke out, and before she left, studied the British methods of reeducating men blinded in battle. After a brief return to New York, June, 1915, found her in France at Bordeaux, where she helped to reorganize the Travailleurs du Sud-Ouest, and assisted in its becoming the Phare de Bordeaux, the first college for the war blind on the Continent.

The Committee for Men Blinded in Battle was organized in this country -- the first organization in America established to aid the war blind of the Allies -- with the late Hon. Joseph H. Choate as president, and Miss Holt, ex-President William H. Taft and former Justice Charles E. Hughes as vice-presidents. The offer of their services was accepted by President Poincaré in behalf of the French Government, and later by General W. C. Gorgas in behalf of the United States.

Les Travailleurs de Sud-Ouest was an organization for the blind established in Bordeaux by Abbé Moreau, who, with the cooperation of Miss Holt, reconstructed it for war work and purchased the Château de Lescure. Fifty pupils were at first accommodated, and simple occupations were taught, such as brush making, chair caning, basketry, as well as reading, writing, typewriting and music. Teaching and relief work were also conducted in the hospitals.

This establishment became the Phare de Bordeaux in 1915. In July of that year the Comité Franco-Américain pour les Aveugles de In Guerre was formed with Miss Holt as president and Mrs. Cooper Hewitt as vice-president. In March, 1916, work was begun at the Phare de France, the Lighthouse in the rue Daru, Paris, and in August it was formally opened by the President of France and the American Ambassador. A broad course of studies was adopted, ranging from the trades to higher mathematics. Basketry, weaving, knitting by machine, massage, modeling, pottery, stenography, bookkeeping, languages and music were taught, as well as gymnastics, fencing, swimming, skating, and games. The blind soldiers in the government hospitals were also taught and assisted by the staff.

A Braille library and printing plant were established at the Phare de France. Two hundred copies of the house organ, La Lumière, were first published in December, 1018. Four blind men were regularly employed in the printing shop, and books and Braille music were published.

Miss Holt returned to America for a lecture tour, and then, in October, 1917, again went to France. On January 13, 1918, the third Lighthouse was opened at the ancient château of the Marquise de Pompadour at Sèvres. The Phare de Sèvres accommodates twenty regular pupils. Pottery is taught in the famous porcelain factories near by, and poultry raising and agriculture on neighboring farms.

The Phare de Bordeaux and the Phare de France each accommodates about fifty resident pupils besides a number of day pupils. Manual labor is largely the specialty of the former, while at the latter blinded soldiers are thoroly reeducated for trades and professions. Over 3500 have been assisted in this way, including blinded soldiers of French, Italian, Belgian, Scotch, Canadian, Polish, Russian, Arabian, Swedish and other nationalities. Soon the French Lighthouses may be extending their succor to Americans. The totally blind, the temporarily blind, and those suffering from incapacitating head wounds have been helped and taught. The regular pupils have numbered more than 300.

The Phare de France assists about 150 men a day, either at the Lighthouse or in the hospitals. Over 130 blinded men have been reeducated in that institution alone. During 1917, 10,000 gifts were presented to the families of the blinded, including food, fuel, bedding, clothing, medicine, seeds, etc. Thirty hospitals were served.

No less important than the teaching is the follow-up work. Men who have been graduated obtain work, thru the efforts of the Lighthouses, as dictaphone stenographers, telephone operators, weavers and knitters.

One blinded adjutant, who had also lost his right hand, learned to use the knitting machine and now earns a good living. Another soldier who arrived at the Phare suffering from mental shock as well as blindness, recovered a normal viewpoint before his year of reëducation was over. He learned knitting and now receives so many orders that he passes some of them on to his friends.

One Lighthouse pupil is now masseur in a large hospital in Paris, and others have taken up this profession. A clever mechanic who has been reeducated is now at work in an electric school in Paris. Several are doing well at farming and poultry raising. One graduate is a Government inspector connected with the Academy and the office of the Public Prosecutor. Another has resumed his former business as a furrier and has prospered so well that he has been forced to move to larger quarters. Several are telephone operators. Others are continuing their studies in music and in languages.