The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1846-03-20
His thirst for all kinds of knowl-

him as household word. His faith
err obtained for him Gregory's Die
tionary of the Arts and Sciences, in
three large volumes. This work,
you know, is vast encyclopedia of
knowledge, treating briefly upon all
branches of human knowledge. This
was just the work he wanted; fol
an outline Of anything is enough
he can make the rest. 1t was this
book that first gave him taste for
the higher mathematics. Here he
found the definition of logarithm,
and from this alone, went on and
made almost an entire table of them
before ever seeing one. One day
he went to his father and told him
he wanted to calculate the eclipses,
and make an Almanac He said he
wanted some books and instruments.
His father tried to put him off, but
the boy followed him into the fields
ard whithersoever he went, begging
for books and instruments with a
most affec citing importantly. Finally,
his father promised to accompany
him TO Dartmouth College, and OBJ
tain for him, if possible, what he
wanted. At this the boy was quite
overjoyed; so much so, that whe n
they hove in sight of the College,
lie cried out in raptures, 80, there
is the College there are the books!
there are the instruments But
they did not find all they wanted.
At Norwich, however, they made
up their complement. On coming
home, the boy took Gummere's As
tronomy, opened it IN the middke,
rolling it to and fro, dashing through
its dry and tedious formulas, trent
out at 60M ends. By the way, this
is his usual mode of study. He does
not begin any book at the beginning,
but always in the middle, and then
goes with rush both ways. | ask
ed him if, when he opened Gum
mcre's Astronomy in tie middie, he
could comprehend those complica-
ted formulas which depended on
previous demonstrations He re.
pied, he could generally, but some
tunes he cooked back a little
/ On arriving at home, he projected
several cclipScs, and also calculated
ttrm tIroa h all their tedious opcr-
atoms by figures FMS, as all mlta-
emltlclanS know. Involves q knowl-
edge OF tle ldDAryntnS OF mathemat-
les, ana also nI lormulls and process
cS most complicated and difficult.
lie has recently made an Almanac
for A. ID. 1916. Two editions-t' c
ilrSt OF seven thousand copies ana
the second of seventeen thousand
have already been published and
nearly all sold 1t is but Just to
young Stafford to say, that the mis-
ceIlaneous parts of the Almanac, so
foolish and devoid of taste, were pre-
pared by young man employed by
the publishers Of the work. This
is a great pity. 1t is to be hoped
that such hV0ddie will not be car
ried through third edition. The
contrast between the tpo AUTHORS is
too awful. In the Almanac are the
calculations of two eclipses of the
sun, wrought out wholly by its in
FAINT author, besides other valuable
tables especially one showing the
amount of duties on wool, under all
the tariffs since the formation of the
government up to the act of 1912.
This table the boy calculated alone.
And that he calculated, without aid,
the two eclipses of the sun, is attes-
ted by the published certificates of
Judges, doctors, lawyers and clergy
mcn.-lf any still doubt the BOYS
ability to calculate an eclipse and
explain all its parts, would recon-
mend them to go to Royalton, VT,
where he is now to be seen, and, by
apersonal examination, satisfy them
selves. He will not only bury YOU,
IN minute, beneath a flood of fig
ures, signs, tangcnts, co signs and
o-tangents, but he will use all the
technical terms of mathematics with
the greatest pre- cision-dashing thro'
abstruse formulas and narratinp ey-
cry step of his work with ease, ra-
pidity, and never failing accuracy
When in his presence, under sucl,
circumstances, if any one, even the
most learned, can express the emo
tons of wonder that must struggle
in his soul, and not feel that he IS in
+. the presence Of a superior being,
confess shall be very much surpri-
sed. Not satisfied with the old, cir
cultous processes of demonstration,
and impatient of delay, young SAT-.
ford is constantly evolving new rules
for abridging his work. He has
found new rule by which to calcu-
late eclipses, hitherto unknown, So
far as know, to any msthemati.
clan. He told me it would shorten
tha ,yo.l, ,.,,,,l,, .,.., IL Nxp