Sharp County record., 1879-08-21
THE TWO world, probably.

Z, lat his friends notlced OF MS
tnS was about year ago, when
Incidentally discovered that ne
Cmost infallible on any date he
ever seen or heard. He was out
st with his parents at the time, and
S he was walking in company with
some relatives, in a cemetery, they OBJ
served that he would look at tomb
stone, read the date of the death re-
corded, and the exact age OF the person
buried there, and then glance up and
tell what day of the week the dead per-
son was born on. This happened on
several occasions, and but little atten-
ton was paid to it. Finally, however,
one of his relatives took pains to look
into an old almanac covering some
of the dates that he had mentioned,
and 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-fve years fell. Only yesterday
the writer gave the lad dates from 1917
to 1910, and in every case Charlie Chat
is his given name) gave the day OF the
week corresponding to that date, and
gave it correctly. The longest time oc-
cupied in any one case was eight Sec
onds, and the shortest was three Sec
onds, the average being about five sec
onds. 1t should be remembered that
while he answered there was no book or
any 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 remembers it, and, of course, from
what has been said above, knows on
what day of the week the date fell. If
one calls his attention to any person and
informs him that the individual was
born on certain day of the week and
month, he will, on seeing that person
months afterward, speak up and say
that that mans birthday falls on a GER
tain day, which is the date he was cas-
ually told so long before. Not great
while ago he walked up to one Of his
relatives and informtd d him that it was
So-and-so's birthday, the date OF the
persons birth having been told him long
ago. For curiosity, the relative took
Charlie by the hand and walked to the
place of business of the friend mention
ed. "Charlie," remarked the relative
to the friend, Essays this is your birth
day; is itp" "Well, l didn't think of
it BEFORE" replied the friend, "but he is
right; this is my birthday"
He never forgets a date that ne has
once fixed in his memory, and is almost
invaluable as q statistician. He remem-
bers when every President of the United
States was born, when inaugurated as
President, and how long he served, and
and when he died Any of these dates
he gives with scarcely a second thought,
as well as hundreds of others OF like
nature. Once in q while he makes a
momentary mistake, but corrects him
self almost instantly, never proceeding
till he is absolutely certain of what he
has already said.
A still more remarkable fact is that
he recollects every thing that he does,
remembers on what day he did lt,where
he was at the time, what were the Cir
cumstances that led him to do it. For
instance, he will tell you where he was
on any day within the past two years,
and what he was doing. Further, he
remembers and can tell every thing 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 be difficult
to find boy of nearly twice his age that
can equal him. He computes the most
difficult fractions in his head, and will
add, subtract, multiply, or divide them
without difficulty. This is all the more
wonderful, considering that he has nev-
er been taught any thing 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
plication, and that it was all given in
the arithmetic. He Immediately got an
arithmetic into his hands, found the
multiplication table, and had all OF 1t
by heart at the breakfast-table the next
morning.
The most remarkable test to which
his memory has yet been put is on the
Bible. He repeats the name OF every
book in the Old and New Testaments,
in regular order, beginning with Gene
sis; 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 particular
verse in any chapter of any particular
book. He tells at once where any par
ticular event is described in the Bible,