St. Landry democrat., 1879-08-09
A Maine Boys Memory.
EXTRAORDINARY POWERS OF A LAD OF
TEN YEARS.
Bangor (Mr.D Commercial.

lnGfe Is III THIS cliF one OF tHe most
remarkable boys in the world, probably
He is the son Of Col. Fuller, eX-POst-
master at Bangor, and is now ten years
of age. His intellect is perfectly won
derful, and almost goes beyond belief
The first that his friends noticed of his
prec0city was about Il year ago, when
they accidentally discovered that he
was almost infallible on any date he had
ever seen or heard. He was out West
with his parents at the time, and as be
was walking in company with some
relatives, in q cemetery, they observed
that he would look at Il tombstone, read
the date Of the death recorded, and the
exact age OF the person buried there.
and then glance up and tell what day OF
the week the dead person was born on
This happened on several OCCASIONS
and but little attention was paid to it.
Finally, however, one Of his relatives
took pains to look into al Old almanac
covering some Of the dates he nell
toned, aud found that the day of the
week had been given correctly in every
instance. This caused them to ask him
questions, when it was discovered that
he could almost instantly tell the day OF
the week on which any date within the
last seventy five years fell. Only yes
terday the writer gave the lad dates
from 1912 to 1910, and in every cas-,
Charlie Chat is his given namc) gave
the day Of the week corresponding tG
the date, and gave it correctly. Tho
longest time occupied i'll any one cast
was eight seconds, and the shortest was
three seconds, the average being about
five seconds. 1t should be remembered
that while he answered there was nc
book or any other article near him from
which he could get any aid.
If he has once heard the date Of birth
marriage or death Of any OF his friends
he remembered it, and, OF course, from
what he has been said above, knows on
what day of the week the date fell. If
one calls his attention to any person
was born on a certain day OF the week
and month, he will, on seeing that per-
son months afterwald, speak up and say
that that mans birthday falls on GER
tain day, which is the date he was
casually told SO long before. Not a
great while ago he walked up to one of
Ills relatives and informed him that it
was SO-and SOS birthday, the date of
the persons birth having been told ago
For curiosity, the relative took Charlie
by the hand and walked to the place of
business OF the friend mentioned
"Charlie," remarked the relative to the
friend, "says this is your birthday; is
it?" ''Well, didn't think of it BEFORE
replied the friend, but he is right this
is my birthday"
He never forgets a date that lie has
once fixed in his memory, and is almost
invaluable as a statistician. He re-
members when every President of the
United States was born, when inau-
gurated as President, and how long lie
served, and when he died. Any OF these
dates he gives with scarcely a seconds
thought, as well as hundreds of others
of like nature. Once in a while he
makes a momentary mistake, but cor
rects himself almost instantly, never
proceeding until he is absolutely certain
of what he has already said.
A still more remarkable fact is that
he recollects everything that he does,
remembers on What day he did it, where
he was at the time, and what were the
circumstances that led him to do it.
For instance, he will tell where he was
on any day within the past two years,
and what he was doing. Further, he
remembers and can tell everything that
his friends have done, providing he has
seen them do it, and tell On what date
and on what day Of the week they did
it,
In mathematics, it would he difficult
to find a boy of nearly twice his age
that can equal him. He computes the
will add, substract, multiply, or divide
them without difficulty. This is ali the
more wonderful, considering that he
has never been taught except how to
read. One evening, about tea time, he
was informed that the double of two is
four. He was informed that the process
of getting that result was called multi
plicatioD, and that it was all given in
the arithmetic. He Immediately got an
arithmetic into his hands, found the
multiplication table, and hsM all of it
by heart at the breakfast table the next
morning.
The most remarkable test to which
his memory has YET been put is Oh the
Bible. He repeats the name of every
book in the Old and New Testaments,
in regular order, beginning with Genesis;
tells how many chapters each book
contains and how many verses in each
chapter in several of the books; and on
any portion of the Bible he has read
and he has read nearly if not quite all
will tell the substance Of any part liar
verse in any chapter Of any particular
book. He tells at once where any par
ticular event is described i'll the Bible,
also where the name OF any character
mentioned in the Scriptures can be found.
He not only knows the Bible thoroughly,
but can tell without hesitation on what
page any particular hymn in Watts or
Moody and Sankey's hymn book can be
found.
Not long ago lie greatly amused some
OF his friends by correcting an almanac.
A lady wished to try him on the days Of
the week on which certain dates, many
years ago, fell. She gave date and
asked him what day it fell. Heprompt-
ly informed her. She looked at the
Wmanac for that year, month and day.
Alas for Charlie, thought she, as his
answer did not agree with the almanac.
Charlie wouldn't give up, however, but
declared that be knew the almanac was
wrong. "HaVen't you another almanac
of that year ?" inquired one OF Charities
confident friends. have" replied the
lady, and produced it. On comparing
the two alIRanaes it was discovered that
she first one was wrong, and that Charlie
was right, a mistake having been made
by the party who compiled the almanac.
His habits are peculiar. He never
plays With other boys, but is continually
busy n reading, 0ftentimes he takes
an unabridged dictionary and studies it
hour after hour, never seeming to con-
slider it anything but pleasure to 90 it.
In fact, he takes no comfort unless busy
ing his brain aboEt something. II there
is anything he does not understand he
keeps at it till he does understand it.
and then it is next to impossible for
him to forget it. One would naturally
sppase that q child with unusual pow
III would gradually fall and fade away,
but, singularly enough, he is constantly
stronger and more healthy.
Very many will think, perhaps, that
his ability in giving the day of the