The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-12-24

grown; no plan for storing can make
amends for defective culture. - NeU
York Tribune. 49,.
A WONDERFUL KENTUCKIAN.
The Extraordinary Powers OF Prot
Fields-His Feats OF Time ana Figures.
At Moorefield, Ky., says a Cincinnati
Times correspondent, an interview was
had with John Robinson, a clever
farmer, whose wife is cousin to re-
markable charac: er whose name is Reu-
ben Fields" Professor Fields. the
Seventh Wonder" ne calls himse.f-and
truly he is a wonder. 9 show, hat
| is it?" Professor" Fields was born
near Wyoming, Bath county, twenty,
eight years ago, and never went to school
but one day in his life, and on that day
| carried witn him IN old tea-kettle filled
with snakes caught with his own hsnds,
and when the teacher attempted to drag
him into the school room, threw the
snakes at him one by one from the ket-
| tie until he broke up the school for that
day, and never returned again. He
heartily condemned the idea of schools
and school children all his days up to
| tho present, and now rebukes all school
children for going, saying that they are
"fools for going to school to lose what
little knowledge they inherited by ma
ture." Fields glories in the possession
of natural gift-that of being mathe-
matician whose equal is unparalleled
In fact, he is thu wonder Of the little
portion of the world and the few rural
scientists with whom he has come in
contact. It is positively asserted by
those who have known him from child
hood that he doesn't know figure or
even the numbers on q clock dial, or
even a letter of the alphabet, and yet he
can instantly and correctly compute any
mathematical problem read aloud to
him, eYen giving the answer to the low.
est decim al fraction. He has been tried
on as much as two pages of invoice on
foolscap. of mercantile goods of every
description, and on the last line of goods
and figures being read instantly gave the
right answer. and even commenced at
the last line and in reverse rotation re.
peated every word, article and figure OF
the entire invoice to a dot. He never
works at any other trade than that OF
running up invoices and making other
mathematical calculations. The PRO
fessor," besides being possessed ofan un-
seen and unaccountable world offigures
IL his mind and the key to all mathe-
matical problems. the solving of which
requires but an instantaneous flash OF
the mind, accompanied by quick clos
ING of the eyes and twitching of The
muscles fthe face. as if in great agony
momentsily. also carries.in his mind a
perpetual and never varying clock dial,
and can give the correct sun time 20 a
second, and can also tell the time to 8 sec
ond by a watch in another pocket. never
looking at a watch or clock. lie ire
ouently tells persons the difference be-
tween their time and that Of the sun.
He has been frequently asked the time
by certain clocks and watches out OF
sight, and has never missed giving a
correct answer. The professor" has
80 nonplussed conductors by telling
them the exact time by the watches in
their pockets, and in his peculiar man
ner of interesting them in his unique
history, that he has frequently made
almost the entire trip from Kentucky to
Kansas, where his mother now resides,
free of charge, the conductors becoming
80 interested in him that they would
almost invariably forget to collect his
fare. Fields claims that lie is sealed
seventh wonder, in the possession OF n
gilt which could easily be taken away
from him, and through fear, therefore
refuses to receive medical treatment fol
epilepsy, with which he is afflicted, but
sometimes speaks of being willing to re-
ceive treatment from a faith" doctor
with whom he claims to be acquainted,
and who lives in the mountains OF Ken
lucky. Fields is also possessed of an.
other gift almost equally marvellous
viz, that of handling snakes of all kinds,
including the rattle, the copperhead. gar.
ter, racer, etc., and never was known to
have been bitten. He also holds power
over all ferocious dogs-having gone
once into the yard of James Upton, 1T
Mooretield, where most ferocious bull
dog held sway unmolested. The doe
reared up on him and played with him
as he had never done with any member
even of the home family. He has also
been known to have fondled with the
heels and hind legs Of. bad kicking
horses and mules. and never been hurt.
Professor - Fields is a bachelor who
never intends to marry, weighs 200
pounds, has red whiskers, and has 4
small, "gray eye of destiny" and says
he can give no explanation of his Won
derful gift save that it is 4 gift similar to
that of Blind Tom. Fields is naturally
Of a sullen disposition, refuses to be in
terviewed, for fear others will learn OF
him. seldom permits an acquaintance to
be formed with any one: The stage
driver, Mr.. McClelland FULLY. Informed
the Times that he succeece ed in forming
the acquaintance of the professor by
approaching him with checker board
be having special gift or charm for the
game. which he delights in and sees all
through at glance. Mr.. Robinson says
he considers himself afirst-class checker
PLAYER. but that Fields beat him seventy
three games out of seventy-tive ut one
sitting, and that Fields only gave him
the two games just to encourage him to
play.
the greatest wonder OF the age; refused
several good offers to 60 into the show
business, and claims that no amount Of
money would induce him to thus degrade
himself and lose his charmed gift"
He is now sojourning at Wyoming, Bath
county, frequently visits Mr.. Robinson's
family near.Mooreield, and is known by
hundreds of the best citizens in Bath
and Nicholas counties.