Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1879-12-20
A WONDERFUL KENTUCKIAN.
The Extraordinary Powers Of Prof. FieIds
His Eenta Of time and Figures.

! p;nose wife is a cousin to remarkable
| character whose name is Rueben Fields
-" Professor Fields, the Seventh Won
der" he calls himself-and truly he is
wonder, a show, a study, a" What is itg'
"professor Fields was born near Wy
oming, Bath County, twenty-eight years
ago, and never went to school but one /
dav in his life, and on that day carried /
with him an old tea-kettle filled with |
snakes caught with his own hands, and !
when the teacher attempted 10 drag him /
into the school-room, threw the snakes 1T /
him one by ore from the kettle until me !
broke up the school for that day, ana |
never returned again. He heartily con |
| dcmned the idea OF schools and schOo. |
children all hi, days up to the present,
and now rebukes all school children for
going, saving that they are fools tor
going to school to lose what little know
ledge they inherited by nature" Fields
glorirs in the possession OF ma
tural giit-that of being a mathcma-
tician whose equal is unparalleled. in
fact, he is the wonder of the little por-
ton of the world ard the few rural
scientists with whom he has come IN
contact. 1t is positively asserted by
those who have known him from child
hood that he doesn't know figure or
even the numbers On clock dial, or
even letter OF the alphabet, and yet he
can instantly and correctly compute any
mathematical problem read aloud to
him, even giving the answer to the low
est decimal fraction. He has been tried
on as much IS two pages OF invoice on
foolscap. of mercantile goods of every
description, and on the last line of goods
and ti.ures being read instantly gave the
right answer, and even commenced ut
the last line and in reverse rotation re-
peatcd every word, article aid figure OF
the entire invoice to dot. He never
works at any other trade thar that OF
running up invoices and making other
mathematical calculations. The Pro-
fes>or. besides being possessed OF an UNI
seen and unaccountabc world of figures
in his mind and the key to all mathe-
maticai problems, the solving of which
requires but an instantaneous flash OF
:. the mind, accompanied by 4 quick clos
{ ing Of the eyes and twitching of the
, muscles of the face, as if in great agony
I momentariIy, also carries in his mind Il
perpetual and never-varying clock dial,
and can give the correct sun time TO
l a second, and can also tell the time to a
second by a watch in another pocket,
never locking at Il watch or clock. lie
frequently tells persons the difference
between their time and that of the sun.
He has been frequently asked the time
by certain clocks and watches out OF
I sight, and has never missed glvln cor
a, rect answer. The "Profes or" has
- I'm cd cnO Hnn4nrs hu tal1tp,y thpnl
the exact time by the watches in their
IS pockets, and in his peculiar manner OF
h Interesting them in his unique history
l. that he has frequently made almost the
Is entire trip from Kentucky to Kansas
where his mother now resides, free oI
charge, the conductors becoming so in
m teresied in him that they would almost
s. invariably forget TO collect his fare
j. Fields claims that he is a sealed Seventh
70 Wonder, in the possession of z gif
which could easily be taken away from
him, and through fear, therefore, refuse
,e to receive medical treatment for epi
b lepsy, with which he is afflicted, bu
:, sometimes speaks of being willing to re
Ot Ceive treatment from a " faith" doctO
with whom he claims to be acquainted
and who lives in the mountains Of Ken
ID lucky. Fields is also possessed of an
n other gift almost equally marvellous, viz.
er that Of handling snakes of all kinds in
It. Guiding the rattle, the copperhead, gal
~ ter, racer, etc, and never was known t
have been bitten. He also holds powe
over all ferociOus dogs-having gon
It, once into the yard OF James Upton, a
K. Moorelield, where most fcrocious bull
It, dog held sway unmOiested. The DO
I'll reared up on him and played with him &
as he had never done with any membe
even of the home family. He has ais
been known to have fOndled with til
~ heels and hind legs of bad kickin
TO horses and mules, and never been hur
IS "PrOfessor Fields is bachelor VIII
'es pounds, has red whiskers, and has
small, "grey eye of destiny and sa.
in he can give no explanation of his wOnde
as full gift, save that it is gift similar
II. that of Blind Tom. Fields is natural
Sc of sullen disposition, refuses to be int
It's e.ewcd, for fear others will learn OF hlr
seldom permits an acquaintance to
formed with any one. The stage-drlve
CIV Mr.. McClclla.d Tully, informed Il
lin Times that he succeeded in forming Il
nd acquaintance of the " Professor by a
it. preaching him with checker-board
he he having special gift or charm for Il
un game, which he delights in and secs
through at n glance. Mr.. Robinson 81
he considers himself iirst-class checkt
lu- PLAYER, but that Fields beat him sevent
gs, three games out Of seventv-tive at o
at sitting, and that Fields only gave h
en- the two games Just to encourage HIM
it'll play. -.
on This peculiar character, who is indie
the greatest wonder of the age. rcfus
several good offers to go into the sh'
hel business, and claims that no amount
!re- money would induce him to thus degrs
IN himself and close his charmed gift
YER He is now sojourning at Wyoming, Ba
six County, frequently visits Mr.. Robinso
the family near Moorefield, and is known
rom hundreds of the best citizens in Ba
and Nicholas counties.