PLAN No. 344. BLIND MAN MAKES MONEY
A blind soldier, at a soldiers’ home in Illinois, earns money by making fancy articles and ornaments of different colored beads. The number of notches on each box designated the color of the beads therein, and he very seldom makes a mistake. These ornaments are very pretty, and visitors, as well as people in the town, buy many of them at good prices. That poor old blind soldier is not complaining of hard times, no matter how many younger people with good eyesight complain.
PLAN No. 345. ASSAYER-ASSISTANT. SEE [PLAN No. 217]
PLAN No. 346. SUPPLYING HOUSE NUMBERS
Making and placing house numbers is the kind of work a Washington man follows with profit.
His method is to first determine on the height of the figure—3 inches high being about right. Then cut a set of plain block figure stencils, from 0 to 9, and mark the outline of the figure on a plate of zinc of suitable size. Then trace the figure with white enamel and, when dry, scrape off any enamel that overlaps the outline of the figures. The background is then painted with bicycle enamel. When dry, punch a small hole in each of the four corners and put up with round-headed nails.
The prices charged for the numbers put up, is usually 25 cents for a 3-figure number, 20 cents for a 2-figure number and 15 cents for a 1-figure number.
The making of the stencils is about the only difficulty connected with the work, for after they are made the printing of the figures is purely mechanical.