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On March 26, 1915, fourteen blinded soldiers entered St. Dunstan's Hostel to start on the journey to self-support and hope. Three years later St. Dunstan's and its annexes held 578 men, after having graduated 434, of which number ninety per cent, had been fully trained and set up in the occupations which they had learned in the school.

The notable feature of St. Dunstan's is its cheerful atmosphere. After the men have surmounted the first few days of depression brought on by the thought of "living always in the night," they look out for themselves and go about like normal men.

The blinded guests have very little difficulty in getting about at St. Dunstan's. They manage to find their way without the aid of a stick and without being led by the hand. This they are enabled to do by a unique device. Strips of carpet of even breadth run through the center of every room. As long as they can feel the carpet under their feet, they know there is no danger of their running into any obstacle. A visitor at St. Dunstan's relates that two men bumped into each other as they were walking in opposite directions on the same strip, but exchanged greetings merrily and continued on their way as if nothing had happened.

To guide the men when they go about out of doors, other devices have been arranged. On the top and bottom steps of stairways, wood or lead strips are fastened to tell the men where they are. Along the paths leading to the various outlying buildings, railings are placed, with little knobs to tell the men when they come to a turn in the road.

There are amusements such as rowing, swimming, dancing, indoor games -- such as dominoes, checkers, chess, and cards; they have a debating society, and almost every man learns to play some kind of musical instrument. They have their theatrical clubs and last December gave an excellent performance of "Babes in the Wood."

But it is not all play at St. Dunstan's. The actual re-education and training are carried on in either classroom or workshop. Those who are assigned to the workshop in the morning are in the classroom in the afternoon and vice-versa. The working day is from 9:30 to 12 in the morning, from 2:30 to 4:30 in the afternoon, with an optional extra hour for those who wish it.

The classroom work consists largely in the teaching of Braille and typewriting. The men are taught to read and write Braille, both arts very difficult to acquire and involving considerable strain on the mental faculties. To relieve this, the Braille lessons are interspersed with netting, which is something of a hobby, at which a man can make in his spare time five or six shillings a week.

All the men are taught typewriting, which they find enjoyable and at which they usually become very proficient.

Affiliated to this classroom work are three occupations, the successful performance of which requires a knowledge of Braille and skill in the use of the typewriter. These are massage, shorthand, and telephone operating.

To learn massage demands a knowledge of Braille, because many of the requisite books on anatomy and physiology have been put into raised type. Blinded men have been trained as highly skilled masseurs at St. Dunstan's. Shorthand for the blind is a system of condensed Braille, and is written by means of a special little machine. Telephone operating on boards operating with drop signals rather than lights is successfully taught.

In the workshops at St. Dunstan's the men are taught cobbling, mat-making, basket-making, and joinery. Most of the instructors are blind and thus furnish an inspiring example for the pupils.

On a spacious poultry farm, beyond the workshops, men are taught poultry raising on modern scientific lines. They learn to distinguish by touch birds of various breeds, to manage incubators and foster-mothers, to prepare and truss birds for table, and in general to conduct a paying poultry business. The pupils are also taught rough carpentry, so that they can make hen-coops, setting-boxes, gates, and other farm essentials. A post-graduate course in poultry farming, so to speak, is given at St. Dunstan's Poultry Farm, near King's Langley, and is a month in duration.

Wherever possible a man is returned to his former trade or occupation. It has been possible for men to resume their employment by giving them special courses of instruction or by teaching them special methods. When a man completes his training at St. Dunstan's, he is settled in the trade that he has studied, is equipped with an outfit and with an abundant supply of raw material. Through a carefully organized after-care system, he is visited regularly, his work is supervised, raw material is supplied to him at cost, and he is assisted in marketing his goods.

Graduates of St. Dunstan's earn a fair living wage. It must be remembered that the blind soldier with an earning capacity is enabled to augment his pension which is not affected by increase of income as his skill and earning power increases.