Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1879-03-01
Weeklp gntelligenfer,
OFFICIAL COUNTY PAPER.
THE WONDER.

THE MATHEMATICAL WONDER.
[Mr. Hiram Parker, Of Richmond,
who has recently been travelling in
this county, sends the following let
ter to the Richmond Chronicle j
81 wish you could see Reube Fields
before YOU 90" said the pleasant
laudlady at Aullvil1e. in the edge of
Lafayette county. And who ls
Reube Fields, 1 asked "Well," said
h lady, 'the is the greatest wonder OF
the age. He IAN DO any SUN you
CAN give him as quick as you can ask
1.-THE call tell you how many grains
of fax-seek it will take to reach the
sun. He cam keep a dozen clerks
busy In invoicing goods; IAN tell the
time of day at amy moment ; and has
never been known to make u mis-
take. Furthermore, snakes wont
bite him, and the widest mule is
quiet in his hands-and | can't tell
you half he can do. You ought to
see him." Truly said-l, fought, and
would much like TO Interview him ?
1 had read of such characters occa-
sionally mathematical prodlgjes,
solving the most difficult problems.
with lightning rapidity a puzzle to
the scientific world, and totally un-
able tnemselvesrto give any account
or explain the process by which they
accomplished these mathematical
miracles, and here l was in the same
town with one of these wonders, anu
should 1 see him2 The next morning
after breakfast, the landlady came
into the sitting-room, aud SAID, he is
here. 1 will bring him in-a very
brief introduction took place, MS
Reuben is not much Oh style, aud the
Phenomena and myself we're en- rap
port. But right here 1 will make u
statement, which every one who
knows Reuben says is true: He can
neither read nor write, and cannot tell
Que figure from another. never went
to school in his life. Here was the
commencement of the puzzle. The
greatest mathematician of the age,
aud yet more Ignorant of figures aud
letters than a h~ve-year old child.
Without any formality l made . pass
at him as follows: l was born March
18th, 1884; how many minutes old
am II Quick as an electric click
came the answer, q, ,24O, not
taking time to figure out whether be
was correct or not l again asked :
How many bricks are there in a pile
Sc by 25 by 50, 9 bricks to the square
foot;s the telegraph clicked again,
Ale, 800. This was beginning to get
interesting, aud l went for him again :
1t it % 900 miles around the earth,
and with 16 fax-seed to the inch,
how many will it take to go around
the earth; click came the answer,
25, 344, DOC, 900, figure this if you want
TO. Figured out the brick problem,
the minutes of my age, and didn't
feel any interest in figuring any
further. A drummer from some
where happened in then, aud doub-
ling teams on him, we went for him
again What will be the interest Oh
$225 so for five years, at 62-3 per
cent, compounded, $79 % came the
answer ere the question was cold.
Then l tried him again : rs cents, put
at interest i'll the year l, ate per cent,
simple interest, giving the interest
alone, what will 1t be at the present
time; $841 IS, said the mental tele-
graph. l went tor him again: Sup
pose there are 50 nails III the four
shoes OIL a horses fee; ut cent
for the first nail, two for the second,
fourier the third and sixteen Tor the
fourth, what will the last cost ; $21,-
479 1856 48. l began to weaken, but
rallyIug QUO more for the charge, l
asked, what day of the week will the
4lh of July come Oh in the year
2450 "MOnday, If it ever comes"
was the answer as quickly given, aud
what day OF the week was l born OH
March 18th, 1884 ; "Tuesday." said
he reversing Tue machinery, which
worked equally as well back ward as
forward. l rested here and did
> heap of thinking. What manner Of
man is this, l thought, who without
an effort makes y plaything OF mil
lions, calls the rolls Ut billions, aud
u handle duodeceilions as rapidly
as u school boy eau the first table i'll
multiplication. Just as readily as he
answers these questions he can give
you the number of square inches Of
water in a boiler. Squarins the circle
il play to him, aud III act nc qucS-
ton i'll any branch of mathematics
has ever been given him, but what
he has solved as easy as-the questions
! put to him. / have not verified all
his answers, but in conversation with
Capt. Farris, he referred to q per.
petual calender in his Office, aud sure
enough, in The year 2450, July tie
4th comes on Monday, aud my
birthday Oh Tuesday as he said. lie
convinces i'll spite OF yourself, that lie
II correct.
IN tha M oHoreka I'D h. f~nnl,
free, amusing the conductors by tell
ing them how many times q car wheel
will revolve between any given point.
He invoices goods,on corrects deliu-
quent tax-lists. 1 could not help but
think what au Invaluable help he
would have been 10 the astronomers,
when they were calculating the dis
lance of the sun from the earth. dur
ing the transit of Venus, or to a
party of railroad engineers aud sur
veyors, "a he could give the number
of cubic yards of earth to be remov-
ed, or i'll filling a cut, thus saving
time, and labor intellectually. In all
assessors Office he could carry out
the amoun of taxes, and do more
work than 20 clerks, aud his work
needs no proving.
Iu appearance he is robust, healthy
looking, and judging by his physical
outline, built to last a century. He
never exhibits for money, having re.
fused all offer of $500 per month to
travel. If wanted on business, lie
will go aud attend to it, but no money
will induce him to make d show 81
himself
People say he has not good sense
but talk with him carefully, and
earnestly although uneducated, he
is very Intelligent, and will give you
reasons Int illustrations for puin's
he makes, that will quickly convince
you he has more than ordinary intel
ligence, and that the one great facui-
ty he has, he guards re%ligiousIy, con.
sidering it a gift of God. not to be
trifed, or made into merchandise in
the circus or show business. He is d
living time-piece telling you the cor
rect sun time, railroad time, time Ii
San Francisco and New York al
though he saw the dial in front Of
hun. He can give no account Of how
this is done, or how the answer 10
the questions are made. He says
they come 10 him ike the clicking OF