P. to put to a
severe test of ability, tact and good temper any one whom he intended to
attach to his personal staff.
His total blindness placed him completely in the hands of those around
him, and, in order that he might enjoy that sense of perfect security
without which his life would have been intolerable, it was necessary
that he should be able to repose absolute confidence in the loyalty and
intelligence of his companions.
It was not with reference to his blindness alone that the qualifications
of his secretaries were measured. Indeed, to the loss of his sight he
had become, in some measure, reconciled; what really dominated every
other consideration was the need of being able to meet the peculiar
conditions which had arisen through the complete breakdown of his
nervous system.
I have spoken of his extreme sensitiveness to noise. It is impossible to
give any description of this terrible symptom which shall be in any way
adequate. Many of us suffer torment through the hideous clamor which
appears to be inseparable from modern civilization; but to Mr. Pulitzer
even the sudden click of a spoon against a saucer, the gurgle of water
poured into a glass, the striking of a match, produced a spasm of
suffering. I have seen him turn pale, tremble, break into a cold
perspiration at some sound which to most people would have been scarcely
audible.
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