Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-03-16
TIE MEMORY.
How Thurl9x Weed Drilled his Mind 8, Il. a
II Became o. use to Him.
Largely ASSISTED BY HIS WIFE

Thurlow Weed could recall Will
great facility and accuracy long list,
of names of men who We're politician.
/ III the various counties when Monro.
ran for president six years ago.
" You seem 20 remember rs well a.
ever a friend said to him one day
" Better than [ did once, | hope,
he answered with a smile. If
had not cultivated my memory
should have been dismal failure
Did you make systematic of
fort to improve III the regular course
of affairs !''
Il had to adopt regular method
and l hit on one that was very etfec
tive. will tell you about it for the
benefit of other young men. l got
married in 1918, when was working
in Albany as a journcyman printer
In few months | went into business,
establishing a newspaper for myself
and some of my friends thought
WAS cut out for Il politician that is.
probably impressed my views
strongly on those about me. But
saw at once fatal weakness. My
memory was sieve. | could rc
meubrr nothing. Dates. names. ap-
pointments, faces, everything escaped
me. / said to my wife, Catherine, {
shall never make Il successful poll
ticlan. for L cannot remember. and
that Is prime necessity of politi
clans. \ politician who sees a man
once should remember him forever
recalled what had been said of
Henry Clay; that he could go round
room and be introduced to fifty
persons, and then on mingling with
the company call every man by his
right name. And | thought also of
the colored man who otficiated at the
grand hat rack in the United States
hotel at Saratoga, and who as the
hundreds of guests flock ont of the
dining room, hands to each one III
stantly the hat, shawl, fan, or what
ever has been deposited there an hour
or two before.
Ny wife told me-" continued
Mr. Weed, that | must train my
memory.
SO when 1 came home that night |
sat down alone and spent fifteen
minutes trying silently to recall the
events of the day. | could rcmcm-
Der little at first; now | remember
that l could not then remember what
/ had for breakfast Finally /
found | could recall more. Events
came back to me more minutcly and
more accurately. After a fortnight
or SO of this. Catherine said: Why
don't you tell it to me! 1t would be
interesting, and my interest in it
would stimulate you Then / be
gan a habit of oral confessions.
as it were, which l followed for al
most fifty years. Every night, then be-
fore retiring told my wife everything
that 1 could recall that had happened
to me or about me during the day, l
generally recalled the very silshes L
had for breakfast, dinner and tea; the
people l had seen and what they
said; the editorials l had written, and
an abstract of them; the letters |
had sent and received, and the very
language used as near as possible;
when l had walked or ridden
everything in short, that had come
within my knowledge. l found l
could say my lessons better and
better every year. and instead of
growing irksome it got to be Il pleas
ure to run the events of the day i'll
review. | am indebted to this disci-
pline for a memory of somewhat I'M
usual tenacity, and l recommend
the practice to all who expect to have
much to do with influencing men,"