W. Percy Merrick

“ Here, too, we heard much Finnish music, saw national dances, and enjoyed a Finnish play acted in Esperanto.
The temperature at Helsingfors during August is very pleasant, and the weather was very kind except for one wet morning and occasional showers. The air is fresh and invigorating until you get into the large halls, for the Finns seem to think that doors and windows are meant to be kept shut. They are doubtless quite right for nine months in the year, and the short summer does not give them time to cultivate a taste for draughts. ”

“ He took us to the blind school, a rather old building, where we found among the teachers and pupils some fifteen Esperantists, all eager to hear about the Congress and about the “kara redaktoro” of “Esperanta Ligilo,” Herr Thilander. We were the first to bring them the news that the next Congress is to take place at Nuremberg, and many of them hoped they would be able to come to it.
We heard of a blind gentleman who has a wonderful dog as a guide; when it comes to a busy crossing it lies down till the street is clear enough to cross. ”

“ Their lives are spent in working for the blind; he editing magazines and stereotyping Braille books, and she proof reading and seeing to household affairs. Their work brings them an enormous amount of correspondence, more than enough of itself to occupy the working hours of an ordinary mortal. ”

“ Thulin has been blind for many years, and devotes his time and energy to the collection of money for the higher education of the blind in Sweden. The “Bokfond,” which he founded some years ago, provides Braille text books of science and languages, and gives scholarships to promising blind students. Mr. and Mrs. Thulin and her sister, who lives with them and helps in the Braille work, are a charming family, and in their hospitable company we felt we were seeing Swedish life under ideal circumstances. ”

“ The market, where one can buy country produce and household utensils, is open every day till noon, but so far as we could find the shops contained little that could not be bought in other towns in Europe, excepting, perhaps, some fine cut glass, said to be made in Finland.
The buildings in which our meetings were held were spacious, and the “akceptejo” (headquarters) , where the Congress had Post office, Bank, books for sale, light refreshments and conversation rooms, was a general meeting place for Esperantists of all nations. ”

“ Helsingfors is essentially a modern town with good hotels and restaurants, electric light, good tram and telephone services, and many fine buildings in quite modern style. There are several nice promenades and parks where bands play in the evenings, and the streets are wide, though alas! they are paved generally with round cobbles which tire one’s feet and make the traffic noisy. ”

“ Ommerbo, our Danish blind Consul, and we all chatted in Esperanto by telephone to Miss Melchior, whose institution is unfortunately too far off for us to have visited. In short, Mr. and Mrs. Blicher made our stay in Copenhagen most active and interesting.
We returned through Germany and thought we had come to the end of the Esperanto part of our holiday. But having an hour to wait between nine and ten o’clock on Saturday evening at Hamburg, I had just remarked that it seemed strange not to have Esperantists to talk to, when a young couple came up to us on the platform. They were Mr. and Mrs. ”

“ Blicher, whom we had met at the Congress. She at once found us a nice hotel, and then guided us to three blind institutions, where we found a few Esperantists and one or two pupils who read English. In the school are some interesting models, especially one of the building itself. Music is taught to the blind more here than in Sweden. ”

“ Saltsjöbaden is a beautiful place on the coast of the Baltic, dotted with villas, where the chief inhabitants of Stockholm spend the summer months. On Monday, 28th, Mr. and Mrs. Thulin took us in a motor car to Osmo, which we reached about midday, after a pleasant drive through woods and open country. Mr. ”