Fig. 1.—Pin pricks showing value and suit of card.

Fig. 2.—Distinguishing marks for suits and color respectively.

By means of a large pin, the designation and value of a card can be pricked on the back, so that the upraised holes are perceptible to touch. These values and denominations should be pricked in the corner where the small designation of the value of a card is always to be found, as in Fig. 1.

In Figs. 2 and 3 are shown the marks which should be pricked. These are in the Braille alphabet, now universally understood by the blind, and read by them with the same ease as we read printing.

Fig. 3.—Values to precede the signs for suits.

Fig. 4.—Cards prepared for Patience.

 

In Whist or Bridge, each person, as he plays his card, states what it is, King of Hearts, and so on, as this saves feeling the cards after they have been laid on the table.

A very suitable game, calculated to amuse the player for hours, is Patience, under all its forms. For this the cards must be prepared somewhat differently, as in many games the first thing to be distinguished is the color.

The handiest plan is to mark a B or an R for Black or Red, in Braille characters immediately before, or underneath the denomination. A glance at Fig. 4 will serve to show what is meant.

With the cards thus marked, any game of Patience can be played as easily by a blind person as by an ordinary player.

Checkers

An ordinary Checker Board can be adapted for the use of the blind with very little trouble and no expense.

Cut thirty-two squares of thick cardboard, each square identical in size with the black squares on the Checker Board. Upon each of the black spaces one of these pieces of card should be glued, so that when complete the board is composed of sunk and raised instead of colored squares.

For the convenience of any ordinary person who may be playing with a blind opponent, the cardboard squares should be colored black with India ink.

The checkers usually purchased have a molding on both top and bottom. It will simplify matters considerably if you can buy a set with one side only molded. By using the white men with the molding uppermost and the black men reversed, as in Fig. 5, the difference will be sufficient to enable the blind person to distinguish by touch.

Fig. 5.—Molded (white) and plain (black) draughts for the blind.

The same result can be obtained by glueing discs of cardboard or stiff paper, upon one side of each man, of one of the sets.

Halma

The preparation of a Halma board is very similar to that of a checker board. Having raised the alternate squares with cardboard, the “Homes” at each corner should be further raised by glueing a piece of cardboard over all the spaces, and then raising the alternate squares upon this base, as in Figs. 6 and 6a.

Fig. 6.—Section of Halma board showing “Home.”

In the center of each square a nail should be driven from the back of the board, with the end cut off and point filed to smoothness. These nails should project from the face of the board about half an inch. The ordinary Halma men have a hole on the under side, which enables you to place them upon the upraised points, where they will be held firmly.

Fig. 6a.—Plan of raised corner.

It will now be necessary to make some alteration in the men, to distinguish the colors. In Fig. 7 an idea of how this may be done is given. The Yellow men are left untouched, Black have their heads cut right off, Red have one half of the head cut away, while the Green have the head sharpened to a point.

Fig. 7.—Color distinctions for Halma men.

Dominoes

Owing to their construction, Dominoes really need no alteration to make them suitable for the blind, but care should be taken when purchasing to see that the pips are cut deep into the ivory, so that the player can tell at a touch how many there are in the piece before him.

Chess

This is one of the games in which the blind frequently excel, and in consequence it is a general favorite. The undivided attention they are able to give, and the natural acuteness which their affliction usually brings to such a pitch of excellence, serves them in good stead when playing “the king of games.”

The board should be prepared as in the case of checkers, with the exception that points should be made from the back, in the manner described in connection with the Halma board.

The different men are, of course, by their construction, easily distinguishable from one another, but it will assist matters very materially if a set is used in which the men differ considerably in shape and size.

In the center of each piece a hole must be bored in the base, large enough to allow the man to be placed, and removed from one pin to another with ease. For this reason wooden chess men are preferable.

The question of distinguishing the colors has been solved in various ways. In some cases the tops of the men of one color have been halved, as shown in Fig. 8, and this has proved a very satisfactory arrangement.

Fig. 8.—Color distinctions for Chess men.

Others have used the black men of one set and the white men of another, but this plan is hardly to be recommended, owing to the similarity prevailing between all chess men.

The following method seems to be as good as any, and has the advantage of being easily contrived. Drive a pin firmly into the heads of one set of men (say the black), and either leave plain, or make a little knob of sealing-wax around the pinhead. This will render the different colors perfectly distinguishable to the blind player.

Round Games

In the majority of round games the blind are able to take an active part, but this depends very much upon the individual concerned. As a general rule rough games should be avoided, especially if the space for playing be limited.

Fig. 9.—The Braille Alphabet.

Games in which a certain amount of writing is requisite are rarely suitable, although here again it must be a matter solely dependent upon the person concerned.

At spelling and guessing games the cleverest seeing player must look to his or her laurels, for the blind are very quick-witted in such contests, and frequently have the answer ready while others are still repeating the question.

As a matter of interest as well as of use, the blind alphabet of the Braille system is shown in Fig. 9, and by this means letters and notes can be written, which will be perfectly intelligible to a blind person. In pricking the characters through a paper, it should be remembered that the points must be reversed, and the letters begun from right to left, as the blind person will read from the other side, where the pin-pricked holes will have raised little points of paper.

INDEX