, 1879-03-08


A SISTEN'S "REMINISCENCES.
Tho latc Mr.. Durritt had relatives IN this city,
"a estcr, Mrs. Eunico Il. Sawyer, Tifo Of Prof.
A. j. Sawyer, formerly OF thc Chicago INT
ycrsity. md niece, Mrs. Anna u. HcddlnEs.
Mrs. Sawyer was next In nEe 10 Eilhu. and Mrs.
Geddlilgs was daughter Of Elihn's brother,
EtJae, dlstneMshed as ah astronomer. or,
more especially, as the author OF BHrritt's
Geography Of TIC Heavens, which was used for
more than thirty years as q textbook In most Of
the femaso sem'nar1es IN tic country. a repre-
sentative OF this paper called upon Prof and
Mrs. Sawyer and Mrs. 9cdd!nes at their home,
No. 408 Vernon avenue. last evening" and
obtained from them mitch TINT Is
not contained in tile above biography,
in the nature OF Incidents in Mt. Burtitts lie,
estimates Of his character and talents. oil OF
which would naturally be remembered by mud
como from those who know him best uutl who
wcrc ,oo,t decniv ottncbci, r. lin.
Mrs. Sawyer, In referring to hor nroshot's
carlyycars and the evidences Of youthful
prccoctty which marked that period OF his
iIfc. .nnl,o of M, aston,shinr festa In mental
arithmetic for which DC t'rst oTlnsed a liking
similar Ia ita Intensity to that afterwards be-
stowcd upon lngu!stic:pursuts. Often and often
would he figure up il !,. Ill., head how many 'se
onds old he was, md, With youthful, prldu, I'm
form Ills cldors Of tho result. He would also
calculate mentally how many yards OF
H. ., .Iao W !. ~. a..,I. ~.
.lt SUI, e.c nunoar o. par.e5sosns ~ wou'u IT,
qutrc to reach around the world, and other curl
Gus and, for bis aee' rather puzz'ing Problems
forro Io no1o .v,tomot,c H.
vision ot tho day, and adhered 10
# for years. Eight hours vero devoted
cyen then Il was hls wont To hnyo IN old Greek
s - "a' IT, "J". ~ ',e ~. ,a1, w. ~ -, ,,a
Esltnlhar Hca' n''l ut'sine "ls lapofs III 'l'o
dertul Greek verbs which ilago proved the
bsno "a o. many soiee9 ~. Boy sss. who ,, the
na,n ron VIZ Fcaasnns m 'ae 81 soas, ne woula
between the sturdy strokes Of the hammer on
the Iron 90 1t Law on tho nnyIl, ho would 70
through with lfa conjugatton nf the stubborn
word. The Incident related OF him In tic nhoyc
an Society In tho Cclto-Drcton language
WIS characteristic. Previously Ignorant Of Tint
strange tongue, he concluded that 1t would bc
lne thinE to write such communication, nnd
question ot timo-brcf nt lllat-for hin, to
acalIYc tic 1augunro al,d inlto the celebrated
letter. Lis Industry, Ills intense appli-
SAWYER and Mrs, Qettitnvs state, to regularly
tako what hs called sabbathday's iourDey
VIZ: scicctlnr ci,aoter in the Hthlo airi rcaa.
ing it in twenty dIiiorent ianeuagcs, OF, as he
Expressed It, travelling from Iceland to lin
doetau, In iatcr ycars, wben hIs
| fane was spread abroad, IL Wns
tho % fashton viii certuin cluss Of
eaplions critics to say TINT. learned ns ho was,
t,rofessn,1 to have at Ills command. II wat n
auf5ctent answer to tiis wondrons dI..oynry tn
say ihnt hc mayer nrofesscd tn ronvcrso in theso
| Inherent iannnnoea. h1t si,nnly tn bn nblc-ns
| lie wns-to Fad md translsto them.
snra,ynr further of
49, ..so,,,,.,,, n,,,,,a,
nln i'Noulst.o 4Ahhhts,
his 8istcr recalled az Incident Which is OF cousfd-
ernblc interest III this connection. Some years
MGo M W. mas ss!. Ell TO ts s9nttfY IRON tne
! scr;nt was orc Of lie most aiIsu1t To drctnl,"r
1hnt rn,,iJ vel, he imn~;nci" mi T. want IN,
rn,nds RI snver,l nj :It icntImr @ co,Ie"cs wiz.
nmt ,nactinT with rnrhnI,r whn tfrrld W so1co ~
r1,dn md ,,;vc IL ,n,crnsni,tion th".nrf II
in 1MS ' - 81, @ ."sst F'ntaa n. VI .o..