West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1886-07-30
WONDERS OF MEMORY.
Both Idiots and Geniuses Ger.
tainly Exhibit Them.

If "all great people have great
memories, a. Sir Arthur Help declares
In his delightful book entitled Social
Pressure, it 10y no means follows that
all those who are possessed of great
memorses are great people Many an
instance might be cited to show that
men of very moderate intellectual ca
pacity may be endowed with Il pow cr
of memory which is truly prodigous.
In addition to this there are plenty of
northumberland examples of the
extraordinary power OF memory dis
played even by idiots. In the Memoir,
OF Mrs Somervillc there j. curious
account of a most extraordinary verbal
memory There was AN IDIOT i'm
Edinburgh she tells rs. .'ofa respect
able family who had "A remarkable
memory. He never failed to 90 10 the
Kirk on sunday: and on returning
home, could repeat the sermon. SAVING:
Here the minister coughcd: here he
stopped to blow his nos q Durinv .he
tour we made in the ii ghland,. q" she
adds, ''Wc met with anoth ~ idiot who
knew the Bible so perfectly. that if YOU
asked MIN where such a verse was I'd
be found, lac could tell without hr,ita-
ton and repeat the chapter These
examples arc sufficiently remarkable:
but what shall he said oi the case cited
by Archdeacon FcarOu I'm hi, valuable
pamphlet on Mental Nigour? There
was in my fathers parish. SAYS the
archdeacon, "a man who could r-mcm-
Der the day when every person had
been buried i'm the parish for thirty-iivc
.fI /.
accuracy the name and age of the de-
ceased, with the mourner, at the
funeral But he was a complete fool.
Out Of the line Of burial-, h. had but
one idea, and could not give an intel
lIgible reply TO a single question. nor
bee trusted TO feed himself
These phenomenal instances may be
matched by the Sussex farm-laborrr
George Watson. a., We lind recorded i'm
Homes Table Book Watson could
neither read nor write. set hc wa,
wont 20 perform woudrou~ feats of
mental calculation. and his memory for
events seemed 10 be- almost faultlc-.
But the most extraordinary cirrm-
stance, say. Hone. .'i~ the power l.
possessed OF rccolicctino the events of
every day from am earl, period Of h.-
life Upon being asked what dBN Of the
week a given day Of the month oc-
CURED, he Immediately names b.. 5ud
also mentions where he wa aud what
WAS the state OF Che weather A gen
fSman who bad kept diary put
many question. to him and his an-
sfy were invariably correct.
OF similar kind i the memory fpr
which Daniel Mccartney has become
famous in the United State, The
strange story of This man achieve
m.nt- D. told by Mr. Hcnkle 100 The
JourH0t NJ SpfcDI0t,rs phnO.oDbL
" CARNEY. iu 1863 declared that he
could remember Che day OF tbe week for
any date from January. lSZs. that IS.
from the time when hc was nine wears
and four months old forty-iwO and
= half years. Hc has often been tested.
and. so far a- Mr. HrukIe'- account
goes. had nOtfailcd to- i-gue-iiouer
what day % was. and Zoo give some
information about the weather and
about bis own whereabouts and doing.
nm any one of the fifteen thousand n,
more date that W chit 1o named Whom
Sir keuk.c first met fhi. man OF mary
e.nu- memory. rn was employed iu the
office Of Hon T k RukeuDrOd rdifo,
~ The salem HfDlht,uH. where moth
ing better could b.. found for 81 cant.
IeY to d. tIW "turu tho wheel of IHr
lr.utug-pra on two days of zach
week on iJa Nl.t form n>am.ua-
ton this mon uuI.rwart hi- answer.
wee. tested ., reference ~ tine llr II
. ner spa..r H.|.r gste tho Gaf of fde
woes along F.tu fr 1tIr. Iu one r..e
DIS -tatru. we. disputed for The d..
Doc named Wa- nos fno sauna. as f.lt
piycH Dy tlc paper but ou further .u.
oWrt it Ua found that fhe new paper
"tt wrong for iIr printer bad made
mistake. -H0r. hand notes ui l.e CON.
trr-1Non wcra taken at subsequent u-
frryieV- The report Of thee. b. very
DUriou reading. Take fhe following
as sample Question October
I>Zsa Answer Gu two serondsJ Woo.
u.-day. was cloudy and drllisI
rain. carried dinner ~ nov fafhr.
wnuFs b. So Fetpug Qua sssl Qusr.