Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1886-11-05
Wonders 81 0nlO1lirI.l as IS

Pressure, " it By no means follows
that all those possessed Of great mern-
|ories are great people. Many an in
stance might be cited TO show that
men OF very mod intellectual ca
paeity may be endowed with a. power
|of memory which IS truly prod gious.
In addition to this there are plenty OF
well authenticated examples OF the ex-
traordinary power ofmemory display
ed even by idiots. In the memoirs Of
Mrs. Somerville there is acurious ac-
count Of q most extraordinary verbal
memory. ''There was an idiot in Ed
inburgh, she tells us, "of respectable
family who had q remarkable memory.
He never failed to 90 to kirk Sunday,
and on returning home could re-
peat the sermon, saying: Here
the minister coughed; here he stop
ped to blow his nose.' During the
tour we made in the Highlands"
she adds, 3swe met with another idiot
who knew the bible so perfectly that
if you asked him where such verse
was to be found he could tell without
hesitation and repeat the chapter"
These examples are sufficiently re-
markable; but what shall be said OF
the case cited by Archdeason Fearon
in his valuable pamphlet on ''Mental
Vigor?" "There was in my fathers
parish" says the Archdeacon, "a man
who could remember the day when
every person had been buried in the
parish for thirty-fve years. and could
repeat with. unvarying accuracy the
name and age of the deceased, with
the mourners at the funeral. But he
was complete fool. Out of the line
of burials, he had not one idea, and
could not give an ineligible reply to
a single question, nor be trusted to
feed himself"
These phenomenal Instances may
be matched by the Sussex farnl-Iabor-
er George Watson, as we find recorded
in Homes '<Table Book" Watson
could neither read nor write, yet he
was wont to perform wondrous teats
OF mental calculation, and his men,
Dry for events seemed to be almost
faultless. ''But the most extra ordi.
nary circumstance says Hone, "is
the power he possesses OF recollecting
the events Of every day from an early
period Of his life. Upon being asked
what day OF the week a given day of
the month occurred he Immediately
names it, and also mentions where he
was and what was the state OF the
weather. A gentleman who had kept
diary put many questions to- him,
and his answers were invariably cor
rect"
OF similar kind is the memory for
which Daniel Mccartney has become
famous in the United States. The
strange story OF this mans achieve
ments is told by Mr.. Henkle i'll the
Journal of Speculative Philosophy
Mccartney, in 1869, declared that he
could remember the day of the week
for any date from January, 1927
that is, from the time he was nine
years and four months old-forty two
and a half years. He has often been
tested, and, so far as Mr.. Henkle's
! account goes, had not failed to tell his
| questioner what day it was, and to
give some. information about the
weather, and about his own where
abouts and doings on any one of the
Is, 900 or more dates that might be
named. When Mr.. Henkle first
| met this man. Of marvellous MEM
DRY he was. employed in the Of
flee of Hon. r. K. Rukendrod,
editor Of the Salem Republican, where
nothing better could be found for Nc
Cartney to do than turn the wheel OF
the printing press two days Of each
week. On the first formal examina-
ton this man underwent, his answers
were tested by reference to the file Of
newspapers which gave the day of the
week along with the date In one case
his statement was disputed, for the
that given by, the paper; but on fur
Their inquiry it was found that the
newspaper was wrong, for the printer
had made mistake. Short hand
notes of the conversation were taken
at subsequent interviews. The report
of these is very curious reading. Take
the following as sample:
Observation-Disclosures 8, 1928? An
swer in two seconds "Wednesday. 1t
was cloudy and drizzled rain1 l car
RED dinner to my father where he was
getting out coal. Question-Februar
| FL, 1929? Answer in two seconds)--
Saturday. 1t was cloudy in the morn
ing and clear in the afternoon; there
uyoo ho Az
uncle who lived near sold a horse beast
that day for $35." And SO the con-
| versation ran on for hours, ranging
over forty. years of McCartney's per
sonal history. Mr.. Henkle tells us
that if he. went over some of tho
! dates again after few days interval,
the answers, although given in the
| different terms, were essentially
the same; showing distinctly that
he remembered the facts, and not the
words previously used. Mccartney 8
memory is not confined to dates and
events; he is. q rare calculator, can
give the. cube root of such numbers as
$685.: OF 571, 1877, etc.; can repeat
some $50 hymns, and start about
200 tunes; has singularly extensive
AHu accurate kHOWte0Re' Oh geography,
and never forgets the name OF q person
he has once, seen or read Of. With all
this singular power of memory, how
ever, he is not man whose general
grasp Of mind is at. all noteworthy
Chambers journal. y
A Divorced WOman's Ambition.
Chicago Herald. %% 10
"Ive just been out in Denver, said
an east-bound passenger, and while