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One year is considered as the average length of time required to teach a blind man Braille and one of the standard trades for blind, such as basket-making, brush-making, rope-making, and the like. Of these occupations, basket-making of the rough type is the most popular with the men, especially those of country origin.

Effort is often made to return the man to his former trade. The experience has been successful with several men, former bakers, cigar-makers, watch-makers. In addition to the trades taught at the institution, a number of men have been placed for training in industries, such as munition plants, clothing factories, and so forth.

In connection with the institution, has been established an agricultural training station, intended mainly for peasants. It seems, however, that the blind soldiers of the agricultural class consider any special training as superfluous and are anxious to return to work on their own farms as soon as possible.

The greatest difficulty arises with regard to men belonging to the intellectual classes. Most of them, however, are officers, and the relatively larger amount of their pension permits them to supplement the instruction given at the institution with private lessons. Many have been able to return to their former professions, as lawyers, teachers, and the like, or to resume their academic studies interrupted when they went forth to give battle to the civilized world.

CHAPTER X IN WAKE OF BATTLE'S DIN

For a number of men who return from the battlefield the world of sound will be forever closed. From detonation of shells, ear wounds, internal hemorrhages, and many other causes men are deafened at the front. They must face life again on a different basis.

Deafness is really more an embarrassment than a physical handicap. Many occupations are open to the deaf, so that their earning power need not be materially affected, but in their social and business relationships they are apt to suffer material inconvenience unless the proper steps are taken to help them surmount their handicap.

The chief aim in treating the returned soldier who has been deafened in battle is to restore his capacity for mingling and communicating with his friends and business associates with the least possible embarrassment to himself or to them. It has been the experience of all who have studied the problem that the best way to help the deafened soldier is by teaching him lip-reading. Once he acquires skill in reading the lips, he becomes again a social being, cheerful and confident, and is qualified for a great number of occupations.

Another urgent necessity is to prevent sensitiveness regarding the handicap. Otherwise a painful situation -- both for the deafened soldier and his associates -- is sure to ensue. When a man overcomes this difficulty, he has taken a distinct step forward towards success.

It has been estimated that of all returned wounded soldiers one in fifty suffers from deafness in a more or less severe form. Returns from twelve military hospitals in England with a total of 67,799 patients in all show that 919 suffered from some form of deafness. Despite the fact that the number of soldiers who return with hearing impaired is comparatively small, the belligerent countries have made thoughtful provision for their successful reinstatement in civilian life.

First steps to care for the British "Tommy" whose hearing was impaired were taken in Edinburgh, under private auspices, May, 1917. Later the state took a hand when the Ministry of Pensions appointed a special Aural Board consisting of four aural surgeons and a lip-reading specialist. The work was then extended throughout the United Kingdom.

When the secretary of this board is notified of the return of a deafened soldier, he communicates with the local pensions representative in the area in which the man lives. The man is then called before the official aurists and lip-reading specialists for examination as to his eligibility for training in lip-reading, for treatment, or both.

At the headquarters of the board in London is one of the centers of instruction for the deaf. Classes are held morning and afternoon for regular pupils and in the evening for those who are employed during the day.

Since the learning of lip-reading is quite fatiguing, it is necessary to provide some form of diversion for the pupils. In the club at headquarters the men are entertained with motion pictures, in which they seem to take great interest, deriving considerable pleasure from the fact that they can read the lips of the actors on, the screen.

One of the oldest Institutions for the deaf in France is the Institution Nationale des Sourds-Muets in the rue Saint-Jacques, Paris. Here the teaching of the deaf has been going on for over a century, so that the institution was ready to handle the returned poilu when the call came. In some of the classes as many as eighteen soldier pupils have been instructed at the same time. Men are not yet discharged from the army, and reside in a neighboring military hospital. Printing, tailoring, and agriculture are the most successful subjects of instruction at this school.