Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1886-12-11
MARvELS OF MEMORY.
Phen0menal Power Possessed by Ger
tain People.

From Chambers Journal.
II sail great people have great memories" as
| Sir Arthur Helps declares In his delightful book
entitled SOCIAL Pressure" 1t by no means follows
that all those who are possessed of great memories
are "great people" Many an instance might be
cited TO show that men Of very moderate intel
lectual capacity may be endowed with q power OF
memory which is truly prodigious. In addition
to this there are plenty OF Northumberland
examples OF the extraordinary power OF men,
DRY displayed even by idiots. In the memoirs
of Mrs. SOmerville there is a curious account
OF most extraordinary verbal memory.
'There was an idiot in Edinburgh" she tells
u.s. ''of respectable family, who had re-
| markable memory. He never failed to go to the
kirk Sunday, and on returning home would repeat
here he stopped to blow his nose During the
tour we made In the Highlands" she adds 1--WE
met with another idiot who knew the Bible so
verse was to be found he could tell without hest
tation and repeat the chapter" These examples
are NJ n1 but what s IN M
valuable pamphlet on "Mental vigor"? 'SThere
was in my fathers parish, says the archdeacon,
person had been buried in the parish for thirty
five years. and could repeat with unvarying accu-
racy 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 but one
idea, and could not give an intellfg1be reply 10
single question, nor be trusted to feed himself"
These phenomenal instances may be matched
by the Sussex farm labOrer, George Watson, as we
find recorded In Homes ''Table Book" watson
could not read nor write, yet he was wont to per-
form wOndrOus feats OF mental calculations, and
his memory for events seemed to be almost fault
less "But the most extraordinary circumstance,
says Hone sis the power he possessed OF recOllect-
ing the events OF every day from an early period
OF his Hte Upon being asked what day OF the
week given day Of the month occurred, he i'm
mediately names it, and also mentions where he
was and what was The state OF the weather. A
gentleman who had kept diary, put many ques-
tons to him. and his answers were invar1able cor
rect"
or similar kind is the memory for which
Daniel Mccartney has become famous in the
United States. The strange story of this mans
achievements is told by MIR. Henkle in the Journal
Of ,Speculdlire Philosophy. Mccartney, In 1853,
week for any date from January, 1S27-that Is,
from the time he was nine years and four months
old-forty-two and a half years. He has often
goes had not failed to tell his questioner what
day 1t was, and to give some Information about
the weather, and about his own whereabouts and
doings on any OF the 1900 or more dates that
might be named. When Mr.. Henkle first met this
man OF marvellous memory he was employed In
On ae 3he 81 tine HS *
better could be found for Mccartney to do
than "turn the wheel Of the printing press
animation this man underwent, his answers were
tested by reference to the file OF a newspaper,
which gave the day of the week along with the
date. In one case his statement was disputed, Tor
the day he named was not the same as that given
by the paper; but on further inquiry it was found
that the newspaper was wrong, for the printer
had made mistake. Shorthand notes OF the con-
versation were taken at subsequent interviews.
The report of these is very curious reading. Take
the following as a sample: Question-October 3,
1898? Answer On two secOnds) "Wednesday. 1t
was cloudy, and driZzled rain; carried dinner TO
my father, where he was getting out coal. CUES
tiOn-Feb. II, 1899? Answer Din TWO secOndSl-Sat-
urday 1t was cloudy in the mOrnig and clear In the
| afternoon; there was little snow on the ground.
An uncle who lived near sold horse beast that day
for s5. And so the conversation ran on for hours
ranging over forty years OF McCartney'S personal
history Mr.. Henkle tells us that II he went over
some OF the dates again, after few days inter
val, the answers, although given In different
terms, were essentially the same, showing dis
tinctly that he remembered the facts and not the
words previously used" McCartney's memory
is not confined 10 dates and events; he IS rare
calculator, can give the cube root Of such mum.
bers as 50, 319; or 81, 1877, etc; can repeat
some $50 hymns, and start about 200 tunes; has
stngularly extensive and accurate knowledge
OF geography, and never fOrgetS the name OF a
person he has once seen or read Of With all this
singular power OF memory, however, he is not a
Dan whose general grasp Of mind is at all note.
worthy.