Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-30
MATHEMATICAL PRODIGIEs.
Remarkable Girls of an Indiana Boy and
a Connecticut Young Man.

Remarkable Girls of an Indiana Boy and
Connecticut Young Man.
Hartford Conn. Times. A mathemati-
cal wonder at Falls Village is Robert
Wilcox Jr., aged about 81. Wilcox is a
young man of ordinary intelligence, and
has commOn-school education, but in
mathematics has developed remarkable
ability TO add, subtract, and divide men,
tally. 1t is said that he is not able to
solve complex problems, but in less than
a minute can give correct answers to such
questions as the following: Given
locomotive driyIng-Wheel five feet four
inches in diameter; how many reyOlu-
lions would the wheel make in going six
miles? Or, how many seconds has a man
lived who has attained the age of 81 years
D months and days, supposing the
months had each thirty days!
Cincinnati Commercial Gazette: Rich
mOnd, Ind, has an untuJ0red mind which
is capable of astonishing results in
mathematical way. A boy who will not
be years old until next May outranks
in mental arithmetic pupils thrice his
years and well up in the higher branches.
1t is Master George Rowland Price, whose
father, NJ. l.. Price, a carpenter, works
for Oliver Yates, and, like his wife and
his other children, has never manifested
any rare mental requirements, although
the family are people of average attain
ments. one morning last fall the boy
came down stairs and asked, GLOW much
are twice and 1?' His father replied
that there was no such thing, whereupOn
the lad rei0ined: "Yes, there Is; twice
and l make s." From that on to the holi-
days he WAS constantly stumbling on TO
something of the kind, which perpleXed
his parents, as they had taken no pains to
instruct him, and they could not under
stand where he got his ideas from. With
the coming of the holidays, however, his
mind became engrOssed with more child
ish things, and he for time abandoned
his mathematical problems, but subse-
quently resuming them, he has latterly
developed into mental marvel. Perhaps
if YOU ask him how much forty times
eighty are, he will reply, Two thousand
and twenty sixties OYer,7 buthe generally
gives the correct answer in one total, and
does it appaTentlv with aslittle thought and
rs promptly as he would tell you his
name. And while he does not deal in
fractions, he computes odd numbers just
as readily as he does even ones, whether
or multiplication. A fellOw-wOrkman Of mis-
father SAID: "Rowly, 1 have Al cents and
your father gives me I, then | give you 8;
how many have | lett?" 'ThIrty-nine,"
he replied as quick as a flash, and the
man said ~ am "A years Old; how many
weeks is thatW He just as promptly re-
sponded, "9,2SS." Instead Of having a
massive head and a dwarfed body, as is
general IN such individuals, he is
very evenly proportional for boy, weigh
ing about 20 pounds, and his extra
breadth of forehead would hardly be no.
ticeable were one not apprlsed OF his
characteristic. In habits, he is older
than his years, remaining with his parents
instead Of taking to children's sports, and
often saying to neighbOr children when they
come to play with MIN: You had better
go home; mother has enough kids OF her
own to bother her" In fact, he is pre-
cocious IN every way, but only phenome-
nal in mathematIcs.