Total number of towns, 11; total number of pupils, 49. Grand total number of towns, 56; grand total number of pupils, 187. In addition to the work of the district teachers as shown above, a few pupils were served for the year ended June 30, 1924, by other employes of the Board, as follows: Total number of towns, 6; total number of pupils, 9. The grand totals of the above for the year ended June 30, 1924, are: The 100 towns in which the home teachers did work investigating, calling or teaching for the year ended June 30, 1924, SALES SERVICE The sales service, which is an outgrowth of the home teaching work, has grown rapidly. An additional room has been assigned us at the State Capitol where we keep our stock and manufactured articles. The output of the blind in their homes has increased to such an extent that we feel that it will be necessary to secure someone as sales manager to devote her full time to this effort, and one of our Connecticut young women who has partial vision is now receiving training in this field in Pennsylvania and Ohio, in hope that we will be able to give her a position when she is ready to accept employment. When one recalls that more than 60 per cent of the blind people in the state are over 50 years of age, it becomes evident to what extent the problem of blindness is interwoven with that of old age. Most of these men and women are too old or too infirm to leave their homes to go to an institution to learn a trade. They welcome the opportunity to do work in their homes, but a chief difficulty is to find a market for their goods. Because of their lack of sight, and meagre knowledge as to how to go about it, they cannot dispose of any continued output of the articles which they can make. This Board voted, therefore, at a meeting March 27, 1922, to set aside $500 from the Relief Fund to establish a revolving fund to start this work. The plan was for the home teachers to instruct the blind people in handwork and for the Board to collect the articles which were made and to arrange for sales at church fairs, city and state expositions, at department stores and in town halls or other central places in small localities. The full price which was obtained for an article was to be paid to the blind person who made it, while the overhead expense of selling it was to be borne by the Board. In this way the blind person would be relieved of the worry and expense of selling what he had made, and would be paid the price for which it would be retailed in a store. In the two years covered by this report the worth of the effort has been demonstrated. For the fiscal year 1923 the sales amounted to $2017.37 and for the year 1924, $3326.14. All of this money was given to the blind people whose articles were sold. Miss Ivie M. Mead, one of our home teachers, has rendered additional service during this period by purchasing most of the materials used in the work. She has sent the goods to the other teachers as there has been call for them and this has entailed labor and responsibility which she has contributed cheerfully and efficiently. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the courtesy and consideration which has been extended the Board and its workers. by clubs, church organizations and business houses, for we realize that the work could not have been accomplished but for the cooperation we have had from these sources. The report of the sales for the year ended June 30, 1923, is as follows: PLACEMENT We believe that the qualified blind can take their place in selected positions in industry with credit to themselves and to the satisfaction of their employers. This is a new thought to many factory managers, however, who are most ready to assert that the blind person will be injured and that the effectiveness of the department will be hindered and |